Sutton & Epsom 22 Chichester 0

Sutton won the opening exchanges against the Sussex Division One side and nearly scored in the first minute after a charge up-field by Keith Middleton, writes John Ashton.

Having won a scrum five metres out from the Chichester line wide on the left, a set piece move came off with right wing Will Newman bursting through the middle to scoreafter 15 minutes.

Simon Green converted to give Sutton a seven-point lead.

Chichester, without really threatening the Sutton line, made life difficult for the home side and Sutton were forced to wait until the 35 minute of the half for a penalty kicked by Green to increase their lead to 10-0 at half time.

A Sutton score immediately after the break looked likely to herald a deluge and was probably the only point in the game when Sutton looked four divisions better than Chichester.

A break by Colin Richens was followed by four phases of superbly quick ruck ball with just about every player in the Sutton team handling the ball at some stage was finished by number eight Justin Van Der Pant, who drove over taking two Chichester players with him. Green converted.

The ball was spun out to Will Newman who took advantage of some space to score wide on the right. The conversion was missed.

They will be looking for a better performance in their London League One match at second from bottom Winchester on Saturday.

November 30, 2001 12:01