10s on the boards but there are no entertainers

ON a heavy pitch, both sides were surprisingly keen on running the ball in this even contest but the conditions made it difficult for both to achieve their aims and ultimately it ended up all square.

The first points of the afternoon went to Old Redcliffians as Ashley Groves put a penalty through the sticks on nine minutes.

It took until 23 minutes for Sutton & Epsom to draw level through a penalty for Michael Cooke.

Both teams were locked together in midfield almost throughout the entire half, with attempts to break out blocked by defensive walls as the half closed out.

A Sutton attack early in the second half won a penalty 18 metres out and they opted for a scrum, but several resets later they were penalised for lowering and Reds cleared their under siege lines.

A high tackle, brought to the referee’s attention by the touch judge, saw a Reds penalty miss touch and run dead and bring play back to halfway.

A deliberate knock-on brought Sutton scrum-half Luke Mason a ten-minute rest in the sin-bin and the man advantage told as a 20metre maul put flanker Scott Parsons across the whitewash – Joe Hall added the extras to put the home side 10-3 to the good.

Another Reds attack was punished as a loose ball was kicked through from the halfway line and gathered by Aaron Phillips to dot down between the posts, the conversion – a formality from Cooke – made it 10-10 and nervy.

Cooke however missed the opportunity for a precious away win, sliding a late penalty attempt wide, and in the gathering gloom the match petered away.