It was a drizzly Saturday afternoon as the Streatham faithful gathered around Frant Road as the First VX welcomed Old Suttonians for our first encounter since that fateful Covid-stricken 2019/20 season. After two consecutive defeats, victory was essential as the Strets looked to put some much-needed distance between us and the bottom of the table.

On the day we were lead out by none other than former prop Charlie Pattihis and current prop Max T, spearheading a formidable back line and sizeable pack respectively. Play started well, with strong forward carries off of 9 and pacey attacks in the backs which completely caught the visiting team off guard and quickly mounted pressure. This pressure soon paid off as No.10 Richie H skilfully wove through the Sutts defence and scored under the posts, converting swiftly thereafter.

Strets’ dominance continued with good structure in the forwards and dominance at the set piece, with club stalwart and hooker’s hooker Rolstone Langmead making a long awaited return following injury. Continued pressure paid off, as side to side moves resulted in quickfire scores from Nat and Vinnie, the former having recently swapped medical bags for tackle bags. Despite a few defensive wobbles from the home team Old Suttonians couldn’t make it through, with Nat scoring again under the posts. 30 minutes in and 24-0 up, Strets were cruising - but this comfort was not to last.

After the Strets D mistakenly thought a Sutts winger had stepped into touch, the opposition were allowed to touch down in the corner, closing the gap slightly and giving the travelling team a new lease of life. A staunch reminder: always play to the whistle. Nonetheless we went into the break 24-5 up with particularly impactful performances from Beaux, Joe Little (he’s great on the piss) and Jacob ‘Man of Steel’ Lange.

This lead unfortunately did not last long. After an injury caused a reshuffle, strets were shaken slightly and Old Suttonians planted themselves firmly in SCRFC territory, with some strong individual running and attrition after several penalties allowed them further into home turf. This ill-discipline continued, and culminated in a yellow card for seasoned 9 Freddie Smart, who decided to hold onto the Suttonian’s ball at the foot of the breakdown, whilst looking into the eyes of the referee and laughing. This resulted in 10 minutes on the naughty step and penalty for the visitors. Some also say there is a dart board with a picture of Freddie’s face in the Referee’s Association clubhouse.

With a dip in morale and on-field numbers, Old Suttonians quickly got themselves back into the game, with 2 tries under the posts, both of which were converted. 24-19 and things were nervy. However, Freddie’s 10 in the bin came to an end and we brought on some fresh legs. This included Lippy, and Spendlove, who after spending 2 weeks sticking his middle finger up to Argentinian pedestrians through a coach window, stuck 2 fingers up to medical professionals around the globe by playing rugby with 3rd degree burns on one hand and a finger broken in two places on the other.

A revitalised Strets were able to pick themselves up, get the ref back on side, and begin playing some of the rugby that made us so deadly in the first half. This resulted in two consecutive tries, the first of which came after some great link up between Raymon and Beaux, with the latter touching down. The second try came following a majestic swallow dive by Lippy at the base of the breakdown to score his second in two weeks. I can’t be the only one who heard an angel choir singing when this happened. However, we couldn’t finish the game without one last wobble, as Suttonians slotted again under the posts, before the game drew to a close with the final score of 38-26 to SCRFC. Strets were delighted to record their first victory of the season and hope to carry this momentum away to Glynonians on Saturday.

MOTM: Joe Little
DOTD: Freddie Smart
MOS: Jacob Lange