Blackheath Ladies 10 – 20 S&ERFC Ladies
Sutton and Epsom rugy club's ladies travelled to Blackheath recently to face their ladies IIs in a top of the league showdown resulting in an impressive 21-10 win to Sutton & Epsom.
Fortunately, the worst of the weather had cleared up by the time it got to kick off and they were ready to go.
The game was always going to be solid from the start with both squads holding 20 players and neither having lost a game all season. Both sides were defensively on point with the majority of the first 20 minutes being played in the middle of the pitch.
The pressure was obvious on both sides of the park with each team carrying out a few more knock ons than usual and more impressively, plenty of conversions at contested rucks.
Sutton managed to draw in the defense and get it out wide to their outside centre who flew round Blackheath and popped it under the posts to claim the first points of the game.
This was then converted by the ladies fullback who had an outstanding game throughout and converted all 3 of the ladies tries. Although relieved to have put points on the board it was obvious that there was still no time to relax and the team continued to battle through. The game was not short of scrums which were predominantly dominated by Blackheath but Sutton’s defense didn’t allow them to make much headway from them.
The pressure got to the ladies before the end of the first half where they were pushed back from the halfway line to their try line resulting in the final offender being put in the sinbin. Sutton’s flyhalf managed to clear the ball from the tryline but Blackheath put the ball past the ladies shortly after whilst Sutton were a man down.
ogether with an unsuccessful conversion the try made for a nail biting result of 7-5. Sutton managed to pull themselves together for the last 5 minutes of the first half making enough space for the fullback to race through the opposition’s defensive line and place the ball under the posts for her second conversion and a not completely comfortable lead of 14-5 at halftime.
The second half was much of the same with both teams pushing forward and putting the ball past the line to get to 21-10 and defending ferociously until the last blow of the whistle. The back and forth was not only exhausting for the players on the pitch but also a stressful experience for Sutton coach, Pumba who wasn’t sure he’d make it through the entire 80 minutes.
Every member of the Sutton squad played an absolute blinder both as individuals and as a team. The hard work that has been put in over the last couple of weeks was unmistakable on the pitch and we have every faith that this will continue throughout the season.
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