1st XV Match report - 20th Oct 2018

Match day Team Photo of the victorious Sutton 1st XV

David Daniels
SCRFC 1st XV Team Manager

Sutton Coldfield 29pts v Old Halesonians 28pts

Over many encounters, over many seasons Sutton v Old Halesonians contests have been eventful and more often than not have gone right down to the wire and the latest engagement was true to form when Sutton snatched a 29-28 victory in the closing minutes of an absorbing contest that had everything and was worthy of the traditional fierce rivalry between the two clubs, whether playing in National 3 league at level 5 in previous seasons or in Midlands 1 at level 6 as is the current ranking of both clubs.

In a game full of twists and turns with many incidents and events both good and frustrating for both sides in turn, although playing well Sutton trailed their opponents for much of the contest and the home side only took the lead for the first time with just 3 minutes left to play. Sutton held their nerve and protected their single point advantage to record a memorable and deserved 29-28 victory over their old and respected rivals.

The result drops Old Hales from 3rd to 4th place in the league whilst Sutton move up from 6th to 5th in a very competitive and close fought top half of the table.

As indicated above, the large crowd at the sun bathed Roger Smoldon Ground once again witnessed an incredible game of rugby as Sutton fought back after trailing 0-15 early in the 1st half, to recover to 12-15 at the break but then they fell 15-28 behind in the 2nd half before stepping up their game to snatch victory with two late converted tries in the final 20 minutes securing the final crucial score in the 5th minute of added time.

A confident Old Hales side had rolled into town lying 3rd in the table, their only defeat coming at the hands of leaders Newbold and in spite of a spirited start by the home side, their belief was strengthened after only 4 minutes when a handling error by Sutton in mid-field presented Old Hales with free ball and wing Joel Keenan finished off a fine move in the corner. The lead was extended after 21 minutes when fly half Stephen Powell knocked over a penalty goal and was further extended on 28 minutes when lock Craig Howells forced his way over from close range, Powells conversion pushing the lead out to 15-0.

Although under scoreboard pressure Sutton continued to perform well and cometh the hour, cometh the man... as after 32 minutes Sutton's inspirational skipper Sean Harrison led the first comeback with a score in the corner after a lineout steal by the home side. Although the conversion was missed the impetus was now with Sutton and after 37 minutes right wing Tom Burrows finished off a well worked move, straight off the training ground with a fine finish in the left hand corner for his 5th try of the campaign, the superb touchline conversion by left footed fly half Ben Morgan brought the score at the break to 12-15 in favour of the visitors.

Within 2 minutes of the restart parity was restored on the scoreboard when Morgan knocked over a 35 metre penalty goal with the large home support then expecting the boys in Green to go on and win the game from there as they had done a few weeks earlier when trailing 0-17 to Longton but Old Hales are of a different calibre and unfortunately no-one had told Old Hales of this version of the game plan. In just 14 minutes the visitors had pushed their lead out to 28-15 thanks to tries by no8 Callum Bradbury after 45 minutes and winger Cael Hodgson after 50 minutes plus a penalty goal by Powell after 56 minutes.

Sutton were now in serious trouble, staring defeat in the face and the opposition rightly had their tails up but Sutton stepped up to the plate and held their discipline as they took the game deep into their opponents half of the field. With the powerful Sutton pack strengthened by the welcome return to Sutton green of prop Chris Hanley and the return from suspension of second row powerhouse Lewis Snowden partnering Jack Ward at the heart of the Sutton eight, Sutton were dominating the forward exchanges and the Sutton backs started to sparkle putting increasing pressure on the visitors defence. The Old Hales discipline started to falter under the weight of the Sutton pressure leading to a flurry of sinbinings for the visitors turning the game in favour of Sutton particularly when the influential Powell was shown a red card after he voiced descent to the referee on seeing the yellow card that had been pointed in his direction.

It was all Sutton now and it was no surprise when inside centre Jacob Jones galloped over under the posts after 64 minutes for the 19 year old’s first try of the season with Morgan adding the extras to bring Sutton to within 6 points at 22-28, with 16 minutes to play.

Roared on by the passionate home support Sutton continued to dominate with their powerful front five keeping them moving forwards with tight head Chris Hanley to the fore in his first game back at Sutton after spending last season in National 2 with Broadstreet. Old Hales were just unable to get out of their own half but equally Sutton were frustrated in their attempts to get over for the score they needed before finally, deep into stoppage time, the backs were released following a 5 metre scrum and Zak Tyler came into the line from full back to dart over for the bonus point try leaving Morgan with a kick to win the game, which he did with unerring accuracy to secure a memorable 29-28 victory.

Another great performance by the new look Sutton side and mention should be made of Jacob Jones, who again was selected in the centre and scored an excellent try to cap another superb performance in a position that would not rate as his first choice but once again he proved what an outstanding and versatile player he is; as did Jonah Falconer, who came off the bench into the front row to show once again at 20 years he is equal to the much more experienced exponents of the dark arts of front row play.

Well played to Old Hales who are a fine side but equally fair play to the Sutton lads who showed tremendous character once again to recover from their early mistakes, to turn the game around and finish the late chances they created. Congratulations to Chris Bancroft on his league debut and to all the other lads who came in and did the Sutton shirt proud; congratulations too to Joe Gavin and his coaches Sandy O’Hare and Gregg Henderson for preparing a squad capable of overcoming the side 3rd in the league despite being without 16 regular players from the 1st XV squad, no mean feat in itself.

This weekend Sutton are on the road again as they venture into the Potteries to take on Stoke RFC, who currently sit 9th in the table and Sutton will be looking to continue their winning form as they press forward in the league table. KO 3pm.

Team: Sean Harrison(Capt), Dean Ginn, Chris Hanley, Jack Ward, Lewis Snowden, Kieran Henderson, Chris Bancroft, Sam Harris, Ollie Green, Ben Morgan, Zak Tyler, Jacob Jones, Paul Spiby, Tom Burrows, Joel James. Reps(used): Jonah Falconer, Jack Wells, Anton Taylor.

Sutton 2nd XV result:

Old Halesonians 2nd XV 38pts v Sutton Coldfield 2nd XV 29pts

North Midlands Reserve League

Unfortunately Sutton second XV had to travel to Old Halesonians without a full front row having been let down at the last minute and in the event they had to reorganise their pack to prevent having to forfeit the league game. In the circumstances the Sutton team produced a commendable performance scoring 5 tries against strong opposition but the Old Halesonians side had the edge and deserved their 38-29 victory.

The Sutton point scorers were led by Chris Duckworth, who completed a consecutive hat-trick of tries late in the game scoring on 65 minutes, 68 minutes and 72 minutes respectively to add to the two tries scored by Ollie Maddon on 20 minutes and Ian Wilson on 32 minutes, in the first half of the game, with Will Smewin and Chris Duckworth adding a conversion each to complete the scoring for the Sutton side.