Match report - 19th Oct 2019

David Daniels
SCRFC 1st XV Team Manager

Match report - 19th Oct 2019

Old Halesonians 12pts V Sutton Coldfield 10pts

Over many seasons 1st XV games between Sutton and Old Halesonians have been close fought affairs invariably going down to the wire, often decided by the final play of the game and last Saturday was no exception with Sutton taking a deserved 10-5 lead into the break but Old Hales hit back with a converted try to take a 12-10 lead early in the second half and then the game ebbed and flowed with neither side able to change the delicate balance of the game until going into the closing minutes. Having dramatically withstood a barrage of sweeping attacks in their 22 Sutton broke free of the stranglehold and took play into the Old Hales half. Then with 90 seconds to play the visitors won a penalty just outside the home 22 to the right of the posts...was this the dramatic conclusion to the game that everyone had come to expect on these occasions but no the penalty failed to turn inwards and drifted agonisingly past the far left hand post and the chance was gone. Sutton faced the restart from the resulting 22 dropout but were unable to create another scoring opportunity and once again they had to settle for a losing bonus point in the disappointing 12-10 defeat but knowing what might have been!

It is worth noting that whilst one player can win a game, responsibility rests with the whole team when a game is lost and In this case the game should have been settled much earlier had Sutton taken the chances they created and had the lineout worked more effectively at key pressure points in the game...but on the plus side the team matched their mid-table opponents in the set play and the scrum functioned well against strong opposition with the backs showing the threat they offer going forward, all of which bodes well for Sutton's fight to climb out of the relegation zone with just 7 out of 26 league games played.

Old Halesonians kicked off in light drizzle, which persisted on and off throughout the game but the pitch was reasonably firm underfoot and the conditions were suitable for a decent game with the home side following the ball into Sutton territory to apply all the early pressure in the visitors half. The Sutton defence held firm but just minutes into the game Sutton conceded a penalty, which was kicked to the right corner for a 5 metre lineout to Old Hales. The ball was caught cleanly and the Old Hales pack drove for the try line but strong defence by the Sutton pack stopped the forward drive causing the maul to crab sideways moving infield before the home side's hooker Brad Cogzell peeled off the side to dive over for the opening try.

The difficult conversion from the right of the posts was missed but Old Hales took a 5-0 lead with 4 minutes played then just 2 minutes later, having responded with positive play following the restart driving play into the Old Hales half, Sutton won a penalty 30 metres out which fly half Ben Morgan calmly converted to close to 5-3 and the contest was truly up and running. Sutton continued to play with a positive momentum. Coming towards the end of the first quarter good play by Sutton carried the ball up their left flank into the Old Hales 22 and Sutton's illusive outside centre Nathan Burchell did the rest as he dodged his way infield to score to the left of the posts. Ben Morgan duly landed the conversion to give Sutton a 10-5 lead with 18 minutes played

Unfortunately, although greatly encouraged by the score line and their overall play, basic unforced errors were creeping into the Sutton play and although the scrums were going well, at key times the lineouts were malfunctioning and not meeting the exacting requirements already established, costing Sutton possession in good scoring positions.

Against this background the play continued through to half time with no change in the score but in spite of a good start to the second half by Sutton with no8 Jack Woodcock making a stunning trademark break deep into Old Hales 22 the play broke down short of the line and the ball was lost forward allowing the home side to clear the ball back into the Sutton half, where Old Hales won a penalty, which was kicked into the right corner before the ball was driven infield and flanker Wayne Cooper scored close to the posts 7 minutes into the second half. Fly half Luke Fenton added the straight forward conversion to give the home side a narrow 12-10 lead with 33 minutes left to play to the final whistle.

In this closing period Sutton played some good rugby but also suffered further frustrations with influential flanker Peter Meachin forced to leave the field with a knee injury. He was replaced from the bench by the versatile Mike Burns, who made a valuable contribution at blindside alongside open side flanker Luke Stewart, who made an outstanding return to the team having been side lined through injury for many months but considering this was his first competitive game in all that time he was back close to his best albeit in a losing cause and he can only get better with more game time. Also on the plus side for the Sutton team was the welcome return of 18 year old prop Lewis Ballinger, who made a telling new season debut to strengthen the power and mobility of the Sutton front row and with 19 year old lock Lewis Belton continuing to impress in the engine room the future of the Sutton pack is in good hands.

The keenly fought contest continued during the third and fourth quarters with Sutton holding out under sustained pressure for long periods showing great defence and fortitude against their powerful opponents but when they did break out and cleared their line taking play back deep into the Old Hales half they failed to take the last gasp opportunity offered by the penalty chance and then following the restart they mounted another promising attack taking play towards the Old Hales line but the ball was knocked on ending the game with thoughts of what might have been if Sutton had made more of their chances earlier in the game.

This weekend Sutton offer a warm welcome to highflying Stoke on Trent, who have made a good start to the new season winning six and losing just one of their opening matches to sit second in the league but Sutton will take hope from the fact that they have lost one and therefore they can be beaten. See what Saturday brings. KO 3pm. All support welcome.

Match summary - 19th Oct 2019

Sutton 2nd XV 78pts v Old Halesonians 2nd XV 7pts

Midlands Reserve League - Division 3

The Sutton 2nd XV continued their run of fine results under manager Simon Davies and coach Dan Wells with a comprehensive 78-7 league victory at home to Old Halesonians, scoring 12 tries and 9 conversions whilst restricting their opponents to a single converted try in the first half.

Sutton made an impressive start to the game scoring at will and taking a 40-7 lead into the break before completing the rout by scoring a further 38 points in a one way second half.

The 12 try bonanza was led by Joe Gregory, who scored a hat-trick of tries to celebrate his return to regular rugby, closely followed by Liam White, Jack Wells and Chris Duckworth who scored a brace each and then with Sam Harris, John Corkin and Josh Pugh each contributing a try, the final score line was completed with 7 conversions for Jack Wells and 2 conversions for Chris Duckworth, both showing kicking skills not previously known.

Match summary report - 20th Oct 2019

Sutton Women 2nd XV 5pts v Bournville Women 1st XV 22pts

Women's NC Midlands League )North)

The newly formed Sutton Ladies 2nd XV faced a daunting test when they welcomed Midlands Premier League side Bournville Ladies to Walmley Road for their challenging league fixture last Sunday afternoon and on the day the visitors proved too strong for the fledgling Sutton side, who competed well but slipped to a respectable 22-5 defeat.

Sutton did achieve a sole consolation try thanks to Charlie Malek, who scored 4 minutes into the second half after Sutton trailed by just 5-0 following a close fought first 40 but the visitors stepped up their game after the break to outscore Sutton by 17-5 in the second 40 minutes to take the win and the league points as the Sutton side take measure and learn from every game.