Old Halesonians' dream of a trip to Twickenham ended on Saturday after going down 16-6 away at Sutton Coldfield in Round Six of the EDF Energy Senior Vase.

The game kicked off with Old Hales playing into a strong wind and Sutton Coldfield were quickly into gear with prop forward Brook Davies scoring in the corner. A missed conversion did nothing to lessen the impact of the opening exchange and a shell -shocked Old Hales quickly realised they were in for a tough game.

Very quickly though Old Hales started playing the kind of rugby that had got them into the last 16 and in the eighth minute Old Hales were given an opportunity to get back into the game and the chance was slotted home by centre Ben Smith.

Another Sutton infringement for holding on saw Smith kick another the three points with a helping hand from the crossbar.

Now well and truly in the game the visitors continued to pressure the home side and another Sutton infringement then presented Old Hales with a penalty, but the distance was just out of range for Smith and the first half finished with Old Hales holding the slenderest of leads.

The second period saw Old Hales enjoy better territory, but as the half went on the hosts pack began to have a greater influence.

A sustained period of pressure from Sutton resulted in a penalty in front of the posts was kicked to give them an 8-6 lead.

More pressure followed from Sutton and a further penalty increased their lead to 11-6.

The penultimate play of the game then saw Sutton score a second try in the right corner after several phases and the game now looked just beyond the visitors.

The final whistle moments later left the Old Halesonians players bitterly disappointed and on the losing side for the first time this season.

10:36am Thursday 7th February 2008

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