Westcliff suffer a painful away defeat to Sutton & Epsom

Westcliff were promoted alongside Sutton from the London & SE Premier Division last season.

And first team boss Rick Compton was frustrated to be on the wrong side of a narrow contest which saw Sutton bag a last-gasp try with just 13 men.

“Another game, another bonus point, but also another missed opportunity,” said Compton.

“Commitment and effort as ever were not in short supply but this was the most disappointing result and outcome so far this season.

“We had a lead and an advantage in numbers that should have enabled us to see the game out but for key periods in the second half we managed the game poorly, most notably in the final 10 minutes when we should have put it out of their reach.

“We paid the price and it was a bitter pill, but we must own it and learn an important lesson.

“Attention will now turn to the visit of Old Redcliffians.”

Sutton started on the front foot, but Westcliff repelled the early advances and made strides up the pitch to open the scoring after five minutes through skipper Chris Marsh.

Greg Bannister added the conversion but Westcliff were too loose from the restart and returned the possession to Sutton, which ultimately led to Bannister being adjudged to have knocked on and resulted in a penalty try and yellow card being awarded.

As half-time approached, Sutton saw their flanker red carded for a dangerous tackle.

Bannister kicked the resultant penalty but the hosts hit back to lead 14-10 at the break.

However, Westcliff were back on top at the start of the second half with Jim Smith scoring a try Bannister converted to make it 17-14.

Westcliff were unable to add any further points and, despite the hosts being reduced to 13 men, they crashed over for a last-gasp try which secured victory.

Westcliff: Bannister, Triana, B. Reynolds, R. Smith, James, Croft, Bolton, Weston, B. Morrant, Binneman, Scogings, Vandermolen, S. Reynolds, Marsh, J. Smith. Replacements: Meakin, Webster, Lynch, Whiting & H. Morrant