Bonus point defeat for Tullow
Tullow's Ryan O'Neill is halted by Suttonians' Joe Kelly.
A mammoth defensive effort by top of the table Suttonians saw Tullow denied just a second win of the season in their fifth game, as they were held up three times on the line. Handling errors were a big part of the game, costing Tullow on a few occasions. It’s hard to say though that the visitors didn’t deserve the win, having a 16 point lead over Tullow at one point in the second half but when you look at the chances that Tullow had, you could argue that they should have sneaked the win.
But defensively, they struggled, the wings in particular were a big source of joy for Suttonians and Tullow conceded at the wrong times. The hosts will take away two bonus points but they will know that they could have gotten more from the game, but you have to give credit to Suttonians at the same time who showed why they are top of the table at the moment who in the critical moments, showed great steel and determination to keep Tullow at bay.
It was a tight start with both sides trying to figure each other out, but it was Suttonians who claimed the early advantage with eight minutes gone, going in around the back and behind the posts to score an early try courtesy of Josh Oakley. Jack Gallagher added the conversion in front of the posts. Six minutes later, Tullow struck back as an Adam Johnson penalty on the 22m line was sent over.
The hosts took the lead after 16 minutes as some great build up work and phase playing was rewarded when Stephen Smith went over to the right of the posts. Johnson added the conversion. 11 minutes later, Tullow extended their lead as some good work in the middle saw Dara Cosgrave push forward and get through the gap in the Suttonians defence before recycling out to the left hand side where Cosgrave went in in the left hand corner. Johnson missed the conversion from a tough angle on the left.
Straight away, Suttonians reacted and pushed forward and less than a minute later, Darragh Kelly went over in the right hand corner. The conversion was missed. With five minutes to go in the first half, Suttonians should have taken the lead again when they won a lineout on the 5m line and tried to recycle to the left with the final pass going over the head of the last man in on the wing and out for a Tullow lineout.
Two minutes late, they had their lead when Matthew Linehan went in down the left beside the post with Gallagher adding the extras. On the verge of half-time, former Irish Sevens international, Sean Cribbin went over down the right before Gallagher added the conversion. Scott Caldbeck went close in the left hand corner but he was held up by the Suttonians defence to see the visitors go in with an 11 point lead.
Straight after the break, Tullow should have scored when a lineout on the 22m line was missed by everyone, but they managed to turnover the ball and Cosgrave tried to recycle the ball and play a pass to his left but it was missed and went out for a Suttonians lineout.
Five minutes in, the lead was extended to 16 points as James Buckeridge went over in the left hand corner. Gallagher missed the ensuing conversion. Tullow went close again 13 minutes into the second half, being held up in the right hand corner. They recovered the ball from the ensuing kick out from Suttonians, Johnson pushed forward and made good ground but they couldn’t capitalise on that pressure and Suttonians turned over the ball and cleared.
Just after the hour mark, a penalty was sent into the left hand corner. Ezrah Vai’s lineout just inside the 22 saw Ben Butler steal the ball and gain some good ground. Tullow got awarded a penalty on the 5m line and chose to scrum it.
On the third time of asking, they recovered the ball and Scott O’Sullivan Magne sneaked under the posts, leaving Johnson with an easy conversion to get the lead down to nine points going into the final ten minutes.
With four minutes to go, Cosgrave tried the spectacular in kicking a penalty from his own half but it fell just short. Vai went close to the left of the posts but again was held up. With the last action of the game, Vai fed Tom Hughes who went over in the left hand corner to rescue two bonus points for Tullow. Johnson missed the conversion but it wouldn’t have made a difference to the final result.
Adam Johnson, Jack Hanlon, Dara Cosgrave, Scott O’Sullivan Magne, Sam Cullen, Paul Canavan, Ryan O’Neill; Scott Caldbeck, Daniel Culleton, Tom Cashen, Tom Hughes, James O’Brien, Joe Waters, Ezrah Vai, Stephen Smith.
Ben Butler, Fiach Kavanagh, Thomas FitzGerald, Cian Leonard, Jay Leonard.
Jack Gallagher, Darragh Kelly, Sean Cribbin, Mikey McGiff, James Buckeridge, Blaise Barnes, Josh Oakley; Oscar Reilly, Simon Feeney, Ponamu Palazzetti, Dean Moore, Cian Buckley, Joe Kelly, James Reilly, Matthew Linehan.
Jack Walters, Guilherme Neto, Charlie Lappin, Louis Gallagher, Hugh Duignan.
