Injuries and a Flurry of Yellow Cards Put Paid To Early Hopes


Rugby result: Wimbledon 10 – 24 Sutton & Epsom


Picture: Wimbledon RFC

Things started well for Wimbledon’s attempt to avenge their narrow defeat by Sutton & Epsom back in November: three minutes from kick-off centre Henry Peuble darted through Sutton’s defence, passed to flanker Kain Rix who shook off two tacklers before passing neatly inside to scrum half Alex Kerr who dived into score beneath the posts and no.10 Jake Noble converted easily. The outweighed, makeshift Wimbledon pack were holding their own against a near full-strength opposition and the two sets of backs looked a good match for each other.

Then hooker Bradley Ugodulunwa limped off with a torn hamstring. Tighthead Malek Touilzak moved to hooker (and made a pretty good job of it) and flanker Jordan Brodley, having propped earlier in his career, took his place. From that point Sutton took control of the set-piece and denied Dons all but scraps of possession. Wimbledon weren’t helped by the huge penalty count against them (14 in the first half alone) nor by the three yellow cards they were shown.

The first was for fullback Freddie Hooper - and from which Sutton’s Hurley kicked three points – then ten minutes before half time it was flanker-turned-prop Jordan Brodley’s turn. Luckily no.8 Luke Cerely said he was able to play in the front row or Dons would have had to suffer the same fate as Italy last weekend and play with 13 men! The Sutton scrum took full advantage of Dons’ re-arranged pack and soon came away with a penalty try, making it 7-10 at half time.

It took the visitors just three minutes from the re-start for their no.10 O’Brien to score after a wave of attacks and Hurley’s conversion made it 7-17. Wimbledon responded well, producing some strong attacks, only for some careless handling and a few wrong options to give the ball back to Sutton and all they had to show was a Noble penalty conversion.

Five minutes after Don’s third yellow, this time for replacement back-rower Jake Digby, their backs were outnumbered again and Hurly was able to run in their third try, which he converted to take the score to 10-24. Soon after, Don’s tireless captain lock Jack Cooke broke through on Sutton’s 22 with just one man to beat (or run over) only for the referee to blow up while playing a Wimbledon advantage!

Once again Wimbledon’s tackling was fearless and effective and without which Sutton’s wealth of possession and one-man advantage for 30 minutes would have added many more points.

Next week Wimbledon are away to second-placed Sevenoaks, hopefully with a few injury returnees.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 

March 7, 2022