For the second home game in a row Sutton played the bottom club in the league after a victory away against their closest title rivals the previous Saturday. It may have been unsurprising that they maintained the lead in London One South with a win over Dover but it was by no means a formality.
Despite the obvious disadvantage the Black and Whites dominated possession and territory in the opening ten minutes trying to impose their fast paced game on the Kent side. However the visitors defence stood firm with the hosts only scoring an eleventh minute Sam Hurley penalty to lead 3-0.
Unfortunately George London was forced to retire from the game a couple of minutes later with a severe cut over his eye that required a trip to casualty. The men from Rugby Lane continued to press for a try but the equalising score came on 25 minutes. The wind played its part as a 22 metre drop out was eventually gathered 10 metres from the Sutton line.
On a normal day a clearance kick would have alleviated the territorial pressure. However the men from the South Coast were gifted a line out in a prime attacking position. After a series of probing attacks they won a penalty which was duly kicked.
S & E renewed their efforts and spent most of the remainder of the first half looking for their opening try. Steve Burton, who had an outstanding game, dominated the line out as the forwards drove time and again deep into the opposition 22.
The Dover tackling was first class and they disrupted at the break down all afternoon to great effect. The sides went into half-time level at three apiece.
With the wind in their favour Sutton & Epsom soon got their first try. From an attacking scrum less than 10 metres out first Matt Whitaker surged for the line, then Steve Burton was stopped agonisingly close before offloading to Joe Ridgley to pop over in the corner.
Sutton led 8-3 after 47 minutes. The Rugby Lane faithful probably hoped this was the moment to initiate a period of dominance and a bonus point win.
However, Dover heads did not drop they were tenacious in defence and took every opportunity to run the ball. Aubrey Mncube, openside flanker, was excellent throughout tirelessly carrying, tackling and foiling the home sides efforts. Their resilience was epitomised by the fact that despite being reduced to 14 by a yellow card for repeated infringements they did not concede a point whilst numerically inferior. With the wind making kicking almost pointless Dover kept the ball in hand but the chances they created were spoilt by poor passing and handling at the crucial moment.
This is not surprising since continuity in selection has been impossible this season for the Kent side have fielded a remarkable 44 different players thus far.
Just after the hour Sutton & Epsom extended their lead through a familiar source. Matt Whitaker scored from a 5 metre scrum and in doing so continued his remarkable scoring sequence to 7 consecutive games. Sam Hurley added the conversion.
However, the hosts had to wait until the 80th minute for their third and final score. A well placed kick from Frankie Murray and superb pressure by Aaron Phillip saw Pete Matthews on hand to pick up the scraps and score from close range.
A 20-3 victory but Sutton were not at their best. Conditions were testing to say the least but credit must be given to Dover whose team tackled hard throughout and ran the ball through their backs at every opportunity. The lead at the top of the table has been cut to three points as Guildford gained a bonus point win over Charlton Park.
Ironically the campaign continues for Sutton & Epsom on Saturday 28th November with a trip to Charlton Park for a 2:30pm kick off at Kidbrooke.
Team: Jacob Atkins, Sam Hurley, Dave Cook, Pete Matthews, Aaron Phillip, Frankie Murray, Steve Munford, Tariq Al Khaldi, James Bennett, Raynn Bruce, Matt Harwood, Steve Burton, George London, Joe Ridgley, Matt Whitaker.
Replacements (all used): Craig Bellringer, Neil Mauger, Kyren Ghumra.
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