Won 1 lost 1

MATCH 1
Team - Archie, Sam, Alex D, Ruben, Alex M, Kyle, George, Ben, Henry
Score - Sutton 7 Lichfield 0

A strong performance from the team in difficult conditions. A mix of excellent teamwork and fantastic individual play saw Sutton steer through to a comfortable victory against a very capable and potentially dangerous Lichfield side.

1st Half
The game started well, with Sutton immediately displaying some really great passing, showing that all the practice on having 'quick hands' was starting to pay off. The ball was moved from one side of the pitch to the other - Archie making a run, finding a block and handing off to Alex M, to Ruben, to Sam. Another run lead to the play being switched to the right hand side, leading to a flurry of great passes from Ben, to Henry and eventually to Kyle who ran it through and put our 1st points on the board..... teamwork was fully present and awake!

A similar story was in play when we didn't have the ball. The Lichfield players, try as they might, found it very difficult to break through the Sutton line. The whole team were persistent and dogged in closing down the Lichfield side - on Lichfield's first foray a wall consisting of Sam, Henry, George and Alex D forced a very quick turnover.

Back to pass, run, move, pass from our boys. Some great team interplay and individual brilliance from Ben led to what we all thought was another try.......but, we were wrong.....the referee had called play back, left the ball with Sutton and had us start again. Confusion reigned. After at least 3 of these instances, we sent a roving reporter down to the pitch side where Lee was about to have a mini fit, to learn that in each instance we had been penalised for 'handing off' tacklers when running with the ball. Apparently, we should have let ourselves be tackled instead.....

This didn't dampen the boys spirits and play continued to follow the above pattern, with Kyle notching up another 2 tries to close out the first half at 3-0 Sutton.

A really great half, and what was most pleasing to see was the way we played as team when attacking and defending. Linked in with great individual play from all of the boys, we bossed the 1st half!

2nd Half
The picture did not change for the 2nd half.

Some great tackling - Ruben really getting to grips with the physicality of this, Ben continuing to throw himself at everything, Henry doing the same and offering excellent support, Alex D making at least 1 try saving tackle, George providing a solid line at the back also - all brilliant play.

On the offensive too, Archie, Sam, Alex M, Kyle, Ben, George, Henry & Ruben - OK....the WHOLE team in separate bursts not giving the Lichfield side any respite.

This all led to Archie scoring (great step-in), Ben's excellent runs (and for the ref's sake, no handing off!) leading to 2 scores for him and Sam getting a share of the action on the scoreboard too.

A great, collective team effort. Well done all!

MATCH 2
Team - Taran, James, Ruben, Gabriel, Autumn, Jack, Jacob, Ryan
Score - Sutton 7 Lichfield 8

Very much a game of two halves. A slow start in the 1st half made Lichfield look better than they should have and did not do Sutton justice. Real resilience and grit led to the picture in the 2nd half being very different indeed and pride in us as a team and individuals being built right back up to make for a very tight game.

1st Half
On a very cold morning now the team stepped out to play against a Lichfield side that we knew were organised and could be dangerous.
The game started positively, with some good passing and running amongst Sutton, with the ball eventually being dropped and a turnover to Lichfield, who immediately capitalised, running straight through our line and scoring a try.

Try as we might on the restart, the passing was not as sharp as we would have liked and the runs not as straight & direct. We put undue pressure on ourselves as a result, leading to a turnover and another straight run-through & try for Lichfield.

It seemed that we were not fully committed to making tackles and I think the very cold weather had a part to play in this. On the offensive, more commitment was needed to supporting each other and making much, much more direct runs. The first half was therefore difficult, and through we posted two tries through Ryan and Autumn, our relatively frail back line meant we came in half time at 4 - 2 down.

2nd Half
A very, very different 2nd half! We must have had a secret stash of Weetabix somewhere as the team were unrecognisable from the 1st half! The biggest change was on tackling - Ruben re-found his aggression, Autumn was throwing herself into the fray, Gabriel supporting in doubling up on tackles, Taran showing strength and pushing back - this all helped to stem the Lichfield flow and allowed us to get on the front foot.

On the offensive, Autumn was marvellous, James & Jack started to bulldoze through, Ryan's speed was great and the support from the whole team picked up.

This all led through to tries being posted by Autumn (3), James and Jack. The second half score was 5-4 to Sutton, with the final score being 8 - 7 Lichfield.

Had we played our 2nd half in the 1st also, we would have had a a very different score at the end of the game. Our total performance was one to be really proud of, and it just shows that when we are on our game, the team is quite formidable.

Well done all, especially on a very, very cold Sunday morning!!!