Match report - Sat 27th Jan 2018

David Daniels
SCRFC 1st XV Team manager

SCRFC 1st XV went down 17-10 to a powerful Moseley Oak side at Billesley Common last weekend but an honest, battling performance by Sutton secured a well deserved losing bonus point with a try by centre Tom Harris in the final play of the game. The attempted conversion from wide out on the left wing dropped just short but the try brought Sutton to within 7 points and the losing bonus point lifted them off the bottom of the table for first time in many months.

With 9 games left to play to the end of the season Sutton obviously need more than losing bonus points if they are to climb out of the relegation zone but on the plus side they are now starting to establish a settled and well balanced side, who are playing on a regular basis and although they lack weight and bulk in the pack they have the skills and pace throughout the team to turn their season round - Watch this space!

However, hoping to have established a settled line-up match day did not start off too well with young 2nd row Lamaar Lawrence having to pull out at short notice due to a bout of flu, to be replaced by young Kieran Henderson, who moved from back row into the second row to join Josh Bailey, who was making a welcome return to the 1st XV, with Anton Taylor moving off the bench to start the game at blindside flanker and Jacob Falconer came onto the bench as front row cover ... and then the club received a message from Moseley Oak to say they weren't being allowed to play on the ‘stadium’ pitch after the recent rain, for fear of it being cut up..!! Instead the game was banished to a pitch over the back on the common that had standing water on it when the teams arrived. After discussion, it was decided to go ahead with the game and although there was a damp and blustery atmosphere throughout the hard fought match there was no more rain and the pitch played reasonably well.

In the first half Sutton were defending against a pronounced slope and from the off they were under pressure at scrum time against a much heavier and bigger pack. However, Sutton defended well in their own half during the opening exchanges and they managed to hold out until midway through the first half, when in the space of a 5 minute period, first flanker Tom Love and then no8 Charlie Thomas forced their way over from close range. Fly half Gareth Jones converted the first try to give the hosts a 12-0 lead, which they held up to the interval... but in the period up to the break Sutton enjoyed a good passage of play creating chances with good running and attacking flair. Unfortunately, a dramatic charge down in the Moseley Oak 22 by left wing Chris Duckworth rolled dead before the winger could ground the ball and other similar chances came and went with no breakthrough for the visitors and they started the second half with a 12-0 deficit.

With the advantage of the slope Sutton were able to get a foothold in the game thanks to some astute and accurate kicking from the boot of fly half Ben Morgan and thankfully there were fewer scrums. Sutton used the ball well in the opening 5 minutes of the second half and winger Mike Burns came close after a chip and chase but was just denied as the ball crossed the try line. However, Sutton were encouraged by their spirited start to the second half and eventually their hard work paid off when, after 59 minutes of play an overlap was created and fullback Tom Burrows put leading scorer winger Chris Duckworth in for his 8th try of the campaign; unfortunately with the elements against him Morgan was unable to add the extras and Sutton trailed 12-5, with 21 minutes left to play.

Regrettably for ’Oak’ with 20 minutes to go they lost centre Paul Cox to a yellow card for a high tackle, which turned into a red card after he directed verbal abuse towards the referee and there was a glimmer of hope from Sutton's point of view.

However, at this point the rugby wise hosts went back to a tight driving game and again Sutton struggled for possession and territory to take advantage of the extra man they had in the backs. Also the Sutton line-out, which had been going well started to malfunction when it was most needed. Sutton were called on to perform huge defensive duties as the Oak pack mounted successive drives towards the Sutton try line with big defensive shifts put in by all the lads but once again the incredible tackling and workrate of back rowers Luke Stewart, Rhoss Price assisted by Anton Taylor warrants special mention; no surprise that eventually Luke and Rhoss both had to be helped from the field after one too many knocks.

The killer blow from Oak came with 5 minutes to go when replacement Willibrod Mbantange broke free from a driving maul close to the Sutton try line to score an unconverted try that threatened to send Sutton home empty handed with the deficit increased to 17-5.

But in a season where not much has gone right for the spirited Sutton side and they have struggled with certain aspects of their game, the one facet that could not be questioned is the character of this essentially young squad of players and this was no more ably demonstrated when in the last play of the game Sutton drove for the try line and Tom Harris somehow managed to get the ball down over the line for his 4th try of the season to secure a much deserved losing bonus point. With the difficult conversion falling short, the game ended with a 17-10 win for the home side but with a certain amount of pride restored after the desperately disappointing second half in the game against Melbourne, the previous week..

Many thanks to all the supporters who travelled across the city and got behind the Sutton side on a cold, damp and blustery day, We look forward to seeing you all again this week when we entertain Rugby Lions in their first ever visit to Walmley Road, kick off is at 2.15pm.

Team: Scott Toy, Dean Ginn, Dave Smith, Josh Bailey, Kieron Henderson, Anton Taylor, Rhoss Price, Luke Stewart, Ollie Green, Ben Morgan(Capt), Chris Duckworth, Tom Harris, Jack Duthie, Mike Burns, Tom Burrows. Subs(used): Jonah Falconer, Conor Thorneycroft, Nathan Burchell.

Too see an accurate league table click on link below:
http://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/competitions/midlands-division/2017-2018/group/22845#/results