“A game of two halves”

“A game of two halves”

This week we all made the short trip up the M6 to Sutton Coldfield for our long awaited Warwickshire cup semi final.
A lovely spring morning put a smile on all of our faces and warmed the air of anticipation for this crucial encounter.
Having played Sutton twice already this season, history showed us that they were constantly improving as a squad as Sils winning margin deficit was being reduced at each encounter.
The game kicked off and possibly a few nerves from the Sutton stand off saw the ball not going 10 mtrs. The kick was taken again only for the same result so Sils then opted for the scrum.
This gave us all a very early look at how the two packs were going to perform and they looked equally matched.
The game eventually began to flow and we saw some good rugby from both teams, with Sutton slightly edging it in the intent and aggression department.
Sils were looking slow and lethargic arriving at the breakdown and this was costing us early ball and potential turn overs.
Sutton had clearly been working hard at their rucking and line speed as, when our backs did see the ball, they had Sutton players right in their faces denying them any real gain line success.
Sils finally broke the deadlock when we took a line out on the Sutton 22 and once again formed the perfect arrow head. Then, with every man and his dog joining in the slow march towards the line, we eventually saw Harri go over for our first try and a serious confidence boost for the whole team.

Half time: Sutton 0 Sils 5

Some stern words from our back’s and forward’s coaches saw Sils come out for the second half a different team. Aggression, breakdown arrival and desire had increased ten fold. We looked like we now had the upper hand until Sutton constructed a beautiful phase of play, utilising their hard running backs to score and level the game.
But once again our boys simply rolled up their sleeves and set to work.
Ethan, receiving the ball from a well won scrum, saw him run hard and straight to break the first tackle then continue to score in the corner.
We now had our noses in front and began to turn the screw.
Another great maul from our pack saw us making ground until the ball finally became available for Jamie to pick and go and score our third. Elliot converting for the extra points.
Sutton continued to play hard and their commitment was faultless. However our defence was also equally up for the challenge and held firm.
Next score came from another superbly controlled scrum by Sils which saw the ball made available for the ever alert Haani to exploit the blind side and go over relatively unchallenged. Conversion again successful.
We all sensed a cup final was now imminent and plans for travel were already being made by some enthusiastic parents!
Final try of the day went to Charlie who continues week in week out to do his job and do it well. Max popping the ball out from a ruck saw Charlie go crashing over to seal the victory in style.
This was a great game to watch today, a real cup tie in every sense and Sutton would have been well deserved finalists if it had gone their way.
Sils however, were just too strong and organised in the end and this now sees the team travel to Earlsdon RFC in a couple of weeks for the final. The team deserve this more than they realise, working hard every week and hopefully will see them get their hands on some well earned silverware!
Well done boys and a massive thank you to Kev, Dom, Dave, Waif, Jon, Pete and Piers for their continued guidance and coaching which has put us all on the verge of cup glory!

Final score: Sutton 5 Sils 36
GW