Sutton continued to demonstrate their title credentials with a well deserved victory at Gosport. The result was not as straightforward as the scoreline might suggest. However, the 6-try triumph enabled them to extend their lead at the top of London One South to five points as Guildford failed to secure a bonus point following their narrow 27-23 victory over Chobham.
Having been camped in their opponents 22 for most of the first quarter there was no addition to the score until the 24th minute. Kyren Ghumra controversially bundled over the defender to gather a crossfield kick by Ollie Clements to break free and then offload to Dave Cook to score.
But the visitors failed to improve on the 10-0 lead. In fact, aided by regular penalties, the Hampshire side established a foothold in the game. Having gained no advantage through trying to play through their backs they reverted to their pack. Relentlessly they battled upfield retaining the ball as Sutton’s defensive mettle was tested to the limit.
Firstly, a 36th minute penalty from one of the many infringements got Gosport & Fareham on the scoreboard. This was soon followed by a cumulative yellow card for Matt Harwood. Finally, on the stroke of half time the Dolphin Crescent crowd roared their approval as Sumo (aka Chris Thompson) forced his way over from a 5 metre scrum. The Black & Whites turned around to face the wind with a slender 10-8 advantage.
The visitors immediately introduced all of their replacements as Messrs Bellringer, London and Murray entered the fray.
They saw out the remaining minutes of the yellow card and once they had numerical parity began to play the sort of rugby that has seen them defeat every team in the league this season. Aaron Phillip did well to turn over the ball at a ruck to provide counterattacking ball. The ball was neatly transferred to Kyren Ghumra on the wing who comfortably outpaced the Gosport defences to score. Five minutes later Kyren Ghumra pounced on a handling error and sped home from inside his own half. A 20-8 lead and a bonus point secured with almost half an hour to play.
Sutton’s superior pace was now causing Gosport considerable problems. The pack recycled quick ball, Matt Whitaker broke through the first line of defence and distributed to the backs to great effect, especially exploiting the blindside. Just before the hour mark the Black & Whites scored their 5th try. A wonderful move from inside their own 22 carved through the South Coast team’s defences to put Aaron Phillip into space and he needed no second invitation to score under the posts. Frankie Murray added the extras to extend the lead to 27-8.
Ten minutes later Kyren Ghumra completed his hat trick as more good handling saw the visitors counter from well within their half to give the speedy winger the space he needed to surge to the line. Frankie Murray completed the scoring.
Indeed Kyren Ghumra could have had two more tries before the final whistle but for wayward final passes. As with the Dover and Medway home games Sutton & Epsom played superbly into a strong wind making light of the elements. Despite a frustrating penalty-strewn first-half display the second period will have given great satisfaction to the league leaders.
The victory was based on superior fitness and pace which ultimately Gosport & Fareham could not cope with despite the considerable efforts of their powerful pack. Not only the speed of the the backs but also of Matt Whitaker was exploited to the full to maintain the momentum in this most successful of seasons.
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