Too close to call

Murmurs of revenge for the Sils festival result were becoming louder within the ranks of the home support. This and the anticipation of a hard fought game helped to provide a great atmosphere on the touch line.

Straight from the kick off Sutton ‘A’ heaped the pressure on the visitors driving forward to their touch line, an unfortunate handling error allowed Bromsgrove to clear for a home team line out.

Some good play by both teams helped to provide a free flowing game for the rest of the half. As the first half drew to a close Luke, charging at pace, received the ball out on the wing only to be stopped half way into the oppositions territory by a try saving tackle. As predicted the defender required treatment for a damaged shoulder and little birdies flying around his head (must have felt like being hit by a run away truck). The last move of the half saw Sutton score an excellent breakaway try through Sam, the whistle calling a halt to the first half with the score 5-0.

The second half saw Sutton dominant in Bromsgrove territory again, drawing out some strong defence near the try line from the visitors. Excellent forward play by Hugh, Tyler and Louis in particular, created a sound platform for Harry to spin the ball out to the backs where the ball was moved swiftly across the line to find a gap in the opposite corner for a second try for Sam a successful conversion by Harry increased the lead to 12 points. A resolute Bromsgrove came back strongly making progress several times into the Sutton half pressuring the home touchline as the game came to a nail biting end. With seconds left before the final whistle a good move by Bromsgrove saw them break through the Sutton line, an unfortunate last ditch high tackle resulted in the referee rightly awarding an unconverted penalty try the final score 12-5.

The now familiar wholesale changes presented the home ‘development’ team with its toughest challenge to date.

Within a few minutes of the start, the visitors took an early lead through a break from the back of a ruck, catching the lads’ cold and exposing some weak tackling from the home team. A very strong free running performance by Bromsgrove saw them run in another four converted tries, despite some very good work by Sutton who pressurised the Bromsgrove try line for long periods of the half, only to see all their hard work undone by some bad luck. The whistle went for half time with the score line showing an undeserved 0-33 deficit.

Further changes at half time saw the lads who had played three halves given a well earned rest. A determined second half performance saw Sutton ‘B’ contain the visitors restricting them to very few chances, whilst creating at least half a dozen chance of their own only to be denied by some desperate last ditch tackling. A final drive was brought to an end by the referees whistle for the end of the game. The score, a credible 0-33, belied the true nature of the game.

All the coaches and parents are very proud of all the lads and their resilience, determination and willingness to perform to their best. Well done chaps keep up the good work and a serious score will come.