David Daniels
SCRFC 1st XV Team Manager

Match report - 7th Mar 2020

Sutton Coldfield 20pts v Worcester RFC 19pts

Midlands 1 West

After three weeks on the side lines due to the recent storms and heavy rain causing games to be cancelled, last weekend Sutton 1st XV returned to league action with the visit of Worcester, who at the start of play sat two places above Sutton in the league table and provided formidable opposition for Sutton's re-entry into the league competition but the newly confident Sutton team overcome late changes to the selected side to record a very satisfactory 20-19 victory over a competitive team who won the away fixture in Nov 2019 by the narrow margin of 20-17 with a late try and conversion in a dramatic conclusion to a compelling contest.

The reverse fixture was no less dramatic as Sutton prevailed over their erstwhile opponents winning by a single point and scoring 2 tries, 2 conversions and 2 penalties, whilst their opponents scored 2 tries and 3 penalties in another compelling contest that went down to the wire.

Sutton kicked off in dry, cloudy overhead conditions on a surprisingly firm pitch, thanks to the efforts of the Sutton grounds staff led by the Trust Chairman Tom Jones. In the first half Sutton had a strong gusty wind blowing in their faces assisting the visitors with long clearance kicks but still much of the early play, which was frenetic and all action, was played at pace in the Worcester half with Sutton applying the early pressure. Unfortunately the early Sutton pressure went without reward and on 15 minutes it was the visitors who opened the scoring when centre Ollie Meadows landed a well judged long range 40 metre wind assisted penalty from mid field to give Worcester a 3-0 lead which he extended to 6-0 two minutes later, when Sutton were penalised for having hands in a ruck and the centre was spot on again with his judgement and long range accuracy.

Sutton responded well to going behind and this time their efforts were rewarded when Worcester were caught off side in midfield 35 metres from goal and Sutton fly half Ben Morgan landed an excellent penalty kick against the wind to close to 3-6 midway through the first half but unfortunately the Sutton deficit was restored when they were penalised for collapsing a scrum and Ollie Meadows was able to land his third penalty in quick succession, this time from 25 metres returning the deficit to 6 points with 25 minutes played and a score line of 9-3.

Sutton's misfortune continued 30 minutes into the game when they were penalised for pulling down a maul in their 22 and they suffered a yellow card losing a prop as a consequence but instead of kicking the penalty to extend their lead ambitious Worcester went for a lineout in the corner, which the 14 men of Sutton defended magnificently to thwart the Worcester efforts and eventually Sutton cleared the ball back deep into the Worcester half of the field gaining possession and putting the Worcester defence under sustained pressure. As a result it was the visitor's turn to overstep the mark with their hooker receiving a yellow card to join the Sutton prop in the sin bin.

With both teams now on 14 men Sutton again stepped up their play and a spectacular break in midfield by Sutton's talisman centre Paul Spiby took play from the Sutton 22 to the Worcester 22, setting a strong attacking position on Sutton's left flank and the ball was quickly moved to the right and into the hands of right wing Chris Duckworth, who wormed his way over the line for an excellent score to the right of the posts.

Fly half Ben Morgan added the conversion to take Sutton into a deserved 10-9 lead with 2 minutes to play to the break.

With the break fast approaching Worcester redoubled their efforts and following the restart after the try Sutton came under immediate pressure in their own 22 but a break by Sutton livewire flanker Jack Wells eased the pressure when he pounced to claim the ball and raced from the Sutton 22 deep into the Worcester half to defuse the danger, protecting the Sutton 1 point lead into the break.

However, the Sutton lead was short lived as 3 minutes into the second half after Sutton received the restart kick off they came under intense pressure in their 22 and as Worcester formed a ruck in centre field the ball was fed left and the Worcester fly half Ben Llewellyn sold a dummy to wrong foot the Sutton defence before racing over for a well executed try wide out on their left wing.

The conversion was missed but the visitors retook the lead 14-10 and now it was time for Sutton to dig deep and repair the deficit, which they did by using the wind to drive play deep into the Worcester half and in successive scrums in centre field within the Worcester 22 Sutton no8 Jack Woodcock skilfully picked up from the base of the scrum to drive for the try line. On the first occasion he was stopped short but Sutton recycled the ball setting up a second chance and this time the talented no8 and former club captain made no mistake as he twisted in the tackle and stretch over the try line for an excellent score to the right of the posts. Ben Morgan added the conversion allowing Sutton to retake the lead at 17-14 with 11 minutes of the second half played.

Unfortunately during the course of events Sutton lost the services of their inspirational skipper and hooker Dean Ginn with an ankle injury and with no specialist hooker on the bench prop/2nd row Chris Lamb went on in the centre of the front row alongside Taboka Habvane and Jonah Falconer, who performed brilliantly with flanker Rhoss Price taking over the role of throwing in at the lineout where young 2nd row Lewis Belton dominated and was outstanding alongside his second row partner Jamie Willetts, in the scrums and open play.

However, in a match where circumstances changed quickly, on 66 minutes Sutton suffered another yellow card and on 68 minutes Worcester retook the lead 17-19 when replacement flanker Jon Lilley scored from a rolling maul, which developed following a catch and drive from a lineout in the Sutton 22 and the difficult conversion was denied as the ball hit the far post and bounced clear. Sutton than had 12 minutes to repair the damage but within 2 minutes Sutton's renewed pressure led to a penalty chance for Ben Morgan to the right of the posts and the fly half calmly slotted the 25 metre chance to take Sutton back into the lead with 10 tense minutes left to play.

The final period was made more testing when Sutton received another yellow card shortly after the restart and for around 4 minutes Sutton were defending their narrowest of leads with just 13 men on the field but they rose to the occasion and first with 13 men and then with 14 men they performed magnificently to keep Worcester out and in the closing seconds of an incredible game they retained possession and showed great discipline in their own half to deny Worcester the ball or a penalty opportunity, winding down the clock until Ben Morgan was able to boot the ball off the field to mark the end of another outstanding victory for the Sutton team, who looked a little rusty after their enforced layoff but they retained their new found belief and outstanding defensive play when it mattered to celebrate another magnificent victory.

This weekend Sutton travel North to Stoke to play the first of their two postponed games looking to take points from a team who now sit two places above them in the league table and there is every reason to believe that Sutton can do this on the evidence of their current form. KO 3pm all support welcome!!

Match Summary Report - 7th Mar 2020

Malvern RFC 2nd XV 7pts v Sutton Coldfield 2nd XV 5pts

Midland Reserve League - Division3 play-off

Sutton second XV travelled into Worcestershire to take on a strong Malvern side and having held their hosts to nil-nil at halftime, Sutton were unlucky in the second half to concede a converted try and whilst Dave Sandford scored a try for Sutton the difficult conversion drifted wide and Sutton were unable to snatch the win!

Match Summary Report - 6th Mar 2020

Bournville 3rd XV 38pts v Sutton Casuals 39pts

Friday night friendly

The Sutton rugby weekend got off to a great start with Dave Bunn's Sutton Casuals travelling to National 3 Club Bournville for a Friday evening floodlit fixture, which was highly entertaining and greatly enjoyed by all especially the Sutton team and supporters as they celebrated a narrow 39-38 victory, ahead of the 20-19 victory celebrated by the Sutton 1st XV less than 24 hours later.

The Sutton Casuals generally train at the Sutton Club, Walmley Road on Monday evenings starting around 7.00 pm, so if you want to play rugby for fun and enjoy the camaraderie of like minded team-mates either call in at the club on Monday evening or contact Dave Bunn on 07585 554998 - enjoy!