Sutton & Epsom VS Bromley RFC

DRAMATIC WIN FOR BROMLEY AT SUTTON AND EPSOM

On Saturday, Bromley’s first team travelled to Sutton and Epsom for a highly important league fixture. With Reigatians already relegated the next two bottom sides would have to contest a play off to determine which other team would also be demoted. Dartfordians were already in one of those spots and their opponents would either be Canterbury Twos, Bromley or Sutton and Epsom. For Bromley a five point away win was essential to try and extract themselves from this position. Barring injuries most of the squad were available so a keenly contested game was anticipated and what unfolded was a great game of rugby, well refereed and the result in doubt right up to the final whistle.

Bromley played into a strong gusty wind in the first half and encountered a fired up home team who dominated the first quarter of the game. Bromley simply could not get out of their half and were under constant pressure. Consequently Sutton and Epsom were 12-0 with two sharp well taken tries and unless the away side got their act together they would be leaving with nothing. Bromley upped the ante and began to get some possession, the forwards pounded down the field and it was now Sutton’s defence that was being asked questions. Twenty five minutes in after several phases the ball was swept right at pace and Hawkins slipped through a gap and was over but no conversion. On thirty minutes Bromley lost the ball at a ruck in midfield which the home side were quick to exploit and they were in under the sticks. A little controversial as one of their players was blatantly standing on the wrong side of the ruck and making no attempt to get out of the way but no whistle and the score went out to 19-5.

This could have been a blow but Bromley came storming back and scored two excellent tries though Ruston and Griffiths after super build up play. No conversions as the wind was playing havoc with the flight of the ball. So half time 19-15 and breathe. During the latter stages of the half their hooker was yellow carded for a high tackle. Ben Smith tried to mediate in this passage of play but that did not go well and the referee reversed the penalty and Sutton got out of a tight spot. 

So all to play for. As in the first half Sutton and Epsom started off at a gallop and were soon in the Bromley twenty two. The away sides defence was now a lot more secure than it had been in the early stages of the game when too many first up tackles were missed and the home team were denied on several occasions but eventually a penalty was coughed up in front of the posts. Decision was to take the points. 22-15. The Bromley response was almost immediate with powerhouse Elliott barrelling his way over to gain the first bonus point. Griffiths converted and the scores were tied with plenty of time to go. Five minutes later and it was Sutton in the ascendancy and they somehow got over in the left hand corner. It did not look great from a defensive point of view. No conversion. Within three minutes fly half Young carved through the middle of the pitch, off loaded and with quick recycling Friday was over in the corner and with the conversion by Griffiths Bromley were in the lead for the first time 27-29 but still plenty of time to go and more swings and roundabouts to come.

Ten minutes later and the home side found themselves back in Bromley’s twenty two after their backs had broken through. Unfortunately the away side infringed again in front of the posts. Kick or go for the try. Take the points 30-29. Mixed up in this intense period of play the Sutton hooker had deliberately slapped forward a Bromley pass and the referee produced the card and my algebra suggests 2Y=1R and he sadly had to leave the field reducing the opposition to 14 players. The game was being played at an incredible pace and full of intensity by both teams. During one passage of play with Bromley ramping up the pressure one of Sutton’s forwards went down and it looked serious. Play was held up for several minutes while he was attended to and he quite rightly had to be taken off causing further reshuffles for the home side. Bromley simply had to take advantage while Sutton sorted themselves out and deep into the second half they worked Ruston over in the left hand corner. The conversion hit the post and Bromley were 30-34 to the good. They now had to manage the game through a considerable amount of injury time. They had Sutton on the rack and on several occasions they powered towards the try line but they were denied by a terrific defensive effort and a little bit of white line fever. The clock was ticking, Bromley nearly there, Sutton and Epsom launch a speculative long kick fielded comfortably by Ruston, as he had down all day, and just kick it back or take contact but he was distracted by a call and threw a long pass which bounced between the two centres and the home winger was on it in a flash. Somehow Bromley managed to contain the situation and returned to pinning their opponents in their twenty two. The game finished with Sutton kicking the ball dead and Bromley had somehow achieved their objective of a five point win and when news filtered through that Canterbury had lost Bromley knew that they had avoided the dreaded playoff.

It had been a terrific game and the players on both sides gave it their all with the result in doubt right to the end. Bromley’s player of the match was Kieran Elliott but quite a few others were deserving of that accolade. Special mention to three of the younger members of the team who really put a shift in and contributed hugely to this performance namely Joe Saunders, Louis Weekes and James Rushton. So the first team’s season is over and the improvement from the beginning to the end has been very marked which is great credit to the coaches and players. 

Meanwhile, back at HQ, the seconds were taking on Cliffe Crusaders in what looked like a difficult fixture, and so it proved. As with the first team it was nip and tuck but they pulled off a terrific win 33-31 win with their player of the match being Harry Stevens. The thirds travelled down the road to take on Beccs Twos which on paper seemed a tall order and although losing they managed to score twenty two points. Player of the match for them was Danny Edmunds. The season is not quite over with the twos away at East Peckham on the 18^th April and the thirds away at Lordswood the following weekend.