Basingstoke 12, Sutton and Epsom 20

BASINGSTOKE produced their second poor performance in a row on Saturday and were beaten by Sutton & Epsom team who were allowed to play freely.

'Stoke's scrummages were again poor, they gave away too many penalties and their play in the loose was bad.

Until the last 10 minutes they could not put together more than two or three phases of play.

They again controlled the lineouts and released their backs on a few occasions but could not finish off the moves. Add a bad referee to this and you get an appalling 'Stoke performance.

At least seven penalties were given away in the opposition 22 and even more in their own.

This week they were not to get away with it. Sutton's kicker and captain punished 'Stoke when he got the opportunity.

It was him that put them in front on 10 minutes after 'Stoke had had a bit of early pressure but made too many mistakes when they should have scored and let Sutton of the hook.

'Stoke responded with a try from Jason Rees when a kick from Ian Calder had a lucky bounce and Rees caught and ran in from 50 metres on 13 minutes.

Sutton hit back immediately with a try from their full-back when some abysmal tackling from Stoke allowed him to waltz through without a hand being laid on him to score wide out.

There was then a spell of penalties with the ref giving them away left, right and centre for bizarre reasons and Sutton benefiting most from it.

'Stoke missed one and then Sutton missed two kickable penalties. Sutton then had a spell of pressure for 10 minutes which ended with a try five minutes from half time, converted to make a half-time score of 17-5 to Sutton.

'Stoke's performance improved slightly in the second half and was bolstered by the introduction of Steve Collins for the first time this season.

'Stoke had the chance to score first in the second half through a penalty but Calder's attempt drifted just wide.

It was then Sutton who completed their scoring for the afternoon with a penalty on 52 minutes.

The game then went through a dull patch with the referee again being the main culprit.

He gave away so many penalties which prevented Stoke from playing their usual free-flowing game.

In the last 10 minutes 'Stoke launched a final assault and scored on 72 minutes when a good miss move in the centre resulted in Rees scoring his second try.

'Stoke were then immediately on their opponent's line again but were struck a cruel blow when Matt Evans was sin-binned wrongly for clearing someone off the ball. The ref adjudged it to be a punch.

This killed off 'Stoke's hopes of pulling back the game when their fitness levels were starting to make it look a possibility against a less fit Sutton team.

Calder said afterwards: "It was disappointing to lose our unbeaten record at home, but more so a game we could have won.

"It does not help when we are stopped from playing a fluent game, but we must adjust our game to accommodate the referree and the opposition.

"Finally, a learning curve for many of the younger players has to be the realisation that to lose in this mannerr hurts not only the team but also our future ambitions."

Basingstoke: Calder, Holmes, Rees, N Taylor, G Jones, Paynter, S Taylor, Young, Riley, Buttle, Wilson, Drawbridge, Hopkins, Baker(Capt), Reeve. Subs: Evans (for Hopkins 70 mins), Collins (for Buttle 50 mins), Rafer Joseph (for Paynter 60 mins).