After a tough game at Guildford last week, Chobham faced Sutton & Epsom in the cup on home soil. Chobham started out strongly, winning two penalties shortly after kick off which put the pressure on Sutton straight away. The first five minutes of the game were played entirely in Sutton’s half with Chobham showing desire to bounce back from last week’s defeat. However, after a knock on in a lineout, Sutton made a line break after the scrum and were able to pass it through the hands, allowing their prop to bundle the ball over the line which meant that dominant Chobham were behind after 10 minutes.
Despite being behind, Chobham went back at Sutton, forcing more errors and winning more penalties around the rucks and especially the scrums where the pack had been incredibly strong for many games. Even after the referee warned Sutton that their penalty count was getting too high, as Chobham pressed for their first try, yet another penalty was given and a Sutton player had to go to the sin bin. From a line out, Chobham were able to efficiently pass it down the line for Matt W to score in the corner, drawing the scores level. Now Sutton hit back and advanced into Chobham’s 22. It looked as if their winger might score but a terrific tackle from Matt N prevented that. Andy ran half way up the pitch to gain yards for Chobham and relieve the pressure. The forwards, led by the warrior Harrison, gained us more yards and earned us a penalty in the middle of the pitch on Sutton’s 22. Chobham took the scrum and won yet another penalty which was quickly taken. The ball was recycled and Callum charged over to give Chobham a 12-5 at half time with Andy’s conversion.
Sutton came back with a bang after the break, bombarding Chobham’s solid defence. Due to a few penalties given away near our own line, try-scorer Callum was the ref’s next victim and had to take 7 minutes off in the bin. Sutton’s forwards took advantage of the difference in numbers and hit hard lines, resulting in a try. This was not converted so Chobham remained two points ahead. This lead was short lived though, as some missed tackles in the middle of the pitch enabled a Sutton player to score under the posts. The conversion hit the post so Chobham trailed 12-15. The next ten minutes proved crucial in once again building pressure on Sutton’s defence, mostly being played in Sutton’s half. Sutton has a scrum in their own half, but Teo sniped round to force an error from their 9. Sammo snatched the ball up, dodged the defender and ran towards the line, only to be stopped 2 metres out. The next phase, Teo leapt over to score his second try in two games and restore Chobham’s lead to 19-15. Sutton retained their kick off and, even with some crunching hits round the fringes of the rucks, were able to score their fourth try (and convert it) from a tap-and-go. With ten minutes to go, Chobham fearlessly fought to secure a winning try, but in the end, could not quite find one. Heading into a well-deserved Christmas break, Chobham could be proud of the improvements they had made so far this season and how they have shown that they can give A teams a good run for their money.
FT: Chobham 19-22 Sutton & Epsom
Squad: Billy, Harrison (C), Jack, Jools, Max, Teo, Lewis, Harvey, Sammo, Danny, Ewen, Ben, Matt W, Dan, Andy, Callum, Matt N, Aran