Old Colfeians embarked down the M25 to face Sutton & Epsom bracing for the windy conditions storm Amy was sending their way. After a positive home win against local rivals Sidcup, there was an air of confidence of how the weekend would unfold. There were also 3 players on their 1XV debut with Ted Moles, Mylo Mutongwizo and Abdoul Bantango all looking to stake a claim in their new jerseys.
As OC’s prepared for kick-off, storm Amy’s ugly head reared its way into fruition with a strong breeze going across the pitch. How this dilemma was yet to be foretold, but a misfield from kick-off was a sign of things to come. Sutton enjoyed a strong start capitalising on OC’s errors exiting their own half and gained menacing territory deep into the 22. With penalty advantage on their side, an expert cross field kick from Freddy Bunting saw Sutton cross the whitewash early on, avoiding the away side’s defensive efforts. Sutton kept up this display of intent with strong forward carries, forcing OC’s suspect defence continually backwards and within a few minutes of the first, OC’s were back under the posts 14-0 down. Prospects remained the same when the resulting kick-off went out on the full, reinforcing the poor opening quarter OC’s were having. Moments later, the Sutton scoreboard increased after smart play down the blindside led to Laurence Wise scoring under the posts.
A change in kick-off tactic and a sense to restore pride, OC’s provided their best spell of the first half, finally breaching Sutton’s 22. After a few penalties and stringing together more than 3 phases, Estefan Ellis once again found his scoring touch, crossing the whitewash in the left corner after a fine pass from Chris Harris. Could this be OC’s getting back into the game? The positive momentum was quickly extinguished like a candle in the wind as Sutton stormed OC’s try line ending the half 28-5 to the good.
If anything was to be found from the game, a fast start was desperately needed. After a short kick-off from OC’s, a ruck which was fiercely contested by Dele (trying to roll the carpet over his endeavours down at Thurrock) led to a knock-on from Sutton just inside their 10m line. A spark of resurgence surged into the OC’s minds. A simple play from the scrum of give the ball to Louis Baker, caused pandemonium in Sutton’s defence as Louis barnstormed his way to the try line, 28-10. No conversion this time, storm Amy had other things to say as the ball furiously thrashed to the left hand side of the left post. Momentum in our favour…
Sutton once again found themselves in OC’s half, through penalties and poor exits OC’s couldn’t escape. One player who couldn’t escape Suttons ascendency was Albert Agorioge as he was left on his backside after being bounced by Sutton’s hooker, (one for Will Smith’s Veo highlight reel no doubt), and only a few phases later Sutton spun the ball wide and managed to score another in the corner, 33-10.
For OC’s to take anything from this game a moment of brilliance was needed and the man to heed that call was Chris Harris. Picking up the ball outside the 22 from scrumhalf, the premeditated step inside ensued, leaving the guard defender stuck in the mud (as many others have found out before). Unfortunately, Chris was stopped by the full back, leaving Ryan Napper to clean up the pieces, in his mind from 20 metres out, (Veo may suggest otherwise with a healthy 1 metre flop). 33-17.
Even with Chris’ brilliance his tongue couldn’t hold back a cryptic question to the ref, “How can a lineout be contested if we throw to the back and they jump at the front”. Just like a moth to a flame, a fish to water and Andy O’Malley to a cougar in the Railway, the referee was reeled into Chris’ comment and speedily awarded a penalty, much to the annoyance of everyone. Clearly clarity was needed. Luckily, Chris did have one more trick up his sleeve with a clever chip over the top from the left touchline, racing in to score the OC’s fourth and final try thus gaining the ever valuable try bonus point.
Much like the first half, Sutton blew away any hopes of an unlikely OC’s comeback by scoring with a driving maul try, much to FHO’s annoyance, ending the game with a big 40-24 score line. Lots of things to work on for OC’s with our TNTs clearly at the forefront.
Saturday is Beckenham at home, hopefully we can bounce back and put the Horn Park advantage to good use.
Ryan Napper.
