Match Report: Pilgrims v Sutton and Epsom

Pilgrims 30
Sutton & Epsom 26

The Pilgrims welcomed Sutton & Epsom to the MTG for the first time in many years in what promised to be a keenly contested encounter.
The city side started brightly, boosted by the return from long term injury’s of Jesse De Vries, Alfie Orris and Harry Sloan and looked to take the game to Sutton going up the slope.
Despite the positive start, the Pilgrims found themselves behind when a slip in the defensive line left a gaping hole in the defensive line which Sutton exploited to take a 0-7 lead.

The pilgrims looked to build on positive front foot ball provided by the forwards, but after a series of positive carries, a pilgrims lineout was thrown long and Sutton expertly countered and showed why they are competing at the top of the league by exploiting the error to score a second which was well converted from out wide. 0-14.

The pilgrims were punished again when hooker Jake Dengate was yellow carded for a late tackle. Sutton kicked for the corner and peeled off the resulting lineout to score from close range and extend their lead to 0-21.

Pilgrims regrouped and again showed they themselves looked dangerous in possession with the pack linking well in the loose to make inroads. Sutton stemmed the tide illegally allowing Owain Collins to register the pilgrims first points of the afternoon with a simple penalty in front of the posts. 3-21.

with the first half drawing to a close, some good play by the backs forced Sutton back into their 22 and and they were forced into touch in their own 22. The pilgrims executed a well worked maul from the lineout and allowed front row replacement Nate Morris to dot down and make the HT score 8-21.

The halftime break allowed pilgrims to regroup and they came out firing as they looked to attack down the slope. Dengate rejoined the fray after his enforced rest and momentum started to swing their way as good work by the forwards created space for Collins to power over and he converted his own try, 15-21.

Sutton looked dangerous whenever they got ball in hand but they were struggling to deal with Pilgrims’ attacking tempo and they were making ground with every run. This set a great platform for the backs and allowed fleet footed fullback Owen Hewitt to skip through for pilgrims 3rd which Collins converted to give them the lead for the first time, 22-21.

Collins then added a second penalty goal to take the score to 25-21 before Sutton showed good determination to score their bonus point try when they powered over from close range despite a number of courageous goal line tackles from the home side to take back the lead, 25-26.

With 10 minutes remaining the pilgrims went up a gear, spurred on my the home support. The forwards were making dents and the backs were looking dangerous. After some good work at the lineout by the pack the backs looked to move the ball wide and after Collins found Orris with a nice pass, his outrageous effort to put Hewitt in space out wide was even better and he raced away to add the pilgrims 4th and bonus point try to take the score to 30-26. Sutton attempted one final attack but pilgrims defence stood firm and they held on to take 5points from a well contested encounter. The Pilgrims travel to Beckenham next Saturday for what promises to be another close encounter.