Match report - 2nd April 2022

Photo, by Dave Taylor, Clark Wells opens the scoring

David Daniels
SCRFC 1st XV Team Manager

Match report - 2nd April 2022

Sutton Coldfield 30pts v Hereford RFC 12pts

Midlands 1 West

Last weekend Sutton 1st XV put their new found form to the test and they passed with flying colours as they defeated a strong Hereford side, who had won the away leg 56-0 in Dec 2021 and although Hereford currently sit 8th in the league table, the revitalised Sutton side took control of the highly anticipated game right from start to outscore their highly rated opponents by 5 tries to 2 in an impressive 30-12 bonus point victory on a sunny day in front of their home crowd and most especially their highly valued Sponsors and Volunteers, who had enjoyed a buffet lunch in the clubhouse before they were entertained in style by an on song Sutton team.

The deserved victory came as a result of an excellent 18 man team performance that was strong in defence, when needed and creative in attack, as Sutton took their chances scoring 3 tries in the first half to lead 15-5 at the break and then going on to score 2 more tries in a combative second half, which needed discipline and resolute defence by Sutton to hold their defiant opponents at bay to secure a celebrated victory, which was a joy to watch in front of their illustrious guests and loyal supporters.

Sutton kicked off in bright sunshine on a perfect day for running rugby and the expectant crowd did not have to wait long for the first score as Sutton followed the ball into the Hereford half but a Hereford clearance kick was carried back into the Hereford 22 at pace by Sutton wing Miles Gregory before the ball was transferred by quick hands across Hereford 22 into the hands of outside centre Clark Wells, who turned on the after burners to weave his way through the spread defenders to score a superb opening try in the left corner. The difficult conversion attempt was missed but Sutton held a 5-0 lead after just over 2 minutes play.

As Sutton settled to the game the Sutton scrum stayed strong and the lineout play, orchestrated by hooker and skipper Dean Ginn, generally provided good possession for the backs from the set play encounters and with the outstanding back row, of Jermaine Toques (6), Ollie Pegler (7) and Will Mitchell (8) dominating the open play in defence and attack the Sutton game plan was set fair and during this early period of play full back Matt Smith and then centre Clark Wells both came close to scoring but on 12 minutes left wing Zak Tyler made the break through, when as Sutton developed another attack through the midfield inside centre Laurie Harries sent a well judged long pass to put winger Zak Tyler into space wide out on the right and although the spritely winger still had work to do he found his way to the line to score Suttons second try for a 10-0 lead after 12 minutes of play with the tricky conversion missed.

The game ebbed and flowed for the next 10 minutes with Hereford testing the Sutton defence, which held firm until with 22 minutes played, after successive scrums on the Sutton try line, Hereford hooker Lewis Jordon finally squeezed over for a try close to the posts but the conversion hit the posts and bounced clear so the visitors had to settle for a 10-5 score line with 18 minutes to play to the break.

With halftime approaching Sutton continued to press home their advantage and 3 minutes before the break club skipper Dean Ginn took a decisive hand. As a Sutton drive was stopped short of the try line in the left corner, the Sutton skipper detached himself and taking a short pass from 2nd row George Ord he calmly reached to place the ball over the line for only his second try in 105 games, to give Sutton a 15-5 lead at halftime.

Sutton started the second half positively looking for their 4th try and to stretch their lead... and this they did 8 minutes in when a smooth passing move across the Hereford 22 by the Sutton backs saw the ball transfer from fly half Ben Morgan to inside centre Laurie Harries, a master of the passing technique, creating the space to put full back Matt Smith in for a superb try in the corner and the gifted full back went on to convert his own try to extend the Sutton lead to 22-5 after a fine passage of play early in the second half, then 7 minutes later the Sutton full back landed a penalty against the visitors for holding on when they were under pressure in their own 22 stretching the Sutton lead to 25-5 on 15 minutes... but Hereford struck back with a try midway through the second half when 2nd row James Marshall was driven over from close range and scrum half Josh Wright added the conversion to close to 25-12.

In the closing period Sutton produced some strong defence to hold the Hereford strike force at bay and then with just minutes to play Sutton turned the tables and attacked up their right wing with fleet footed winger Miles Gregory racing into the right corner and with little space to work in he skilfully squeezed past the final defenders to ground the ball cleanly in the corner for a remarkable try.

The try went unconverted but the try was Sutton's 5th of the day and gave them an impressive 30-12 victory to compensate for their disappointment in the away fixture showing how much the Sutton side has progressed in the intervening period.

This weekend Sutton continue to test themselves when they travel to face 2nd placed team Kenilworth, who are chasing every point available to them to chase down league leaders Lichfield and keep ahead of 3rd place Stoke, with a game in hand over the other two in the final run-in to the end of the season, with the top two teams promoted leaving 12 teams to compete in Midlands 1 West next season.

There are just 2 games left to play this season plus any postponed games that have been accrued. Sutton therefore have 3 games to play, 2 scheduled and 1 rearranged game against Worcester, which will be on Good Friday evening 15th April 2022. 7.30 KO.

..and Sutton's final game will be at home against league champions elect Lichfield on 23rd April 2022. KO 3pm.

Match 2 summary - 2nd April 2022

Sutton 2nd XV 34pts v Droitwich 2nd XV 5pts

Sutton 2nd XV won the away leg of this on-going contest with a narrow 17-16 victory away at Droitwich the previous week but the strong Sutton side took away any room for dispute in the home leg last week, when they recorded a convincing 34-5 victory outscoring their opponents by 6 tries to 1, in a comprehensive victory.

The Sutton try fest was led by Vaughan Brown, who scored a brace followed by Curtis Wellington, Raheel Hussain, Sam Grimshaw and Lee Kazeem, who scored a try each, with Chris Hendley and Sam Grimshaw adding a conversion each.

Matt Tranter scored a consolation try for Droitwich.