Weakened Cranleigh beaten by promotion-chasing Old Rutlishians

Action from Cranleigh's home game against Old Ruts back in November. Picture by WPS Photography/Mark Cunningham

Due to unavailability and two late withdrawals, the Cranes fielded a weakened team with some players playing out of position.

Within three minutes of kick off, Cranleigh were awarded a penalty on the halfway line which was splendidly converted by Curtis Beecroft.

But over the next 15 minutes Old Ruts, who have only lost two games this season, started to put pressure on the Cranes.

Sustained defending took its toll and Cranleigh began to drop off in tackles.

The Ruts fly half capitalised on this by breaking free to score under the posts.

Within another ten minutes, Rutlishians overturned Cranleigh at a ruck and at pace put their left wing in for a try.

And, having conceded a penalty, Cranleigh’s luck went downhill.

The Cranes lost a prop to injury and swiftly lost three out of four of their own line-out balls.

Old Rutlishians added to the score with a well drilled move by their backs.

The hosts expertly created gaps in the Cranleigh defence to add another try.

A Cranleigh attack kept Rutlishians in their 22, but a fumble allowed the Rutlishians’ wing forward offload to his inside centre.

He outpaced the covering Cranes man to the line to leave the half-time score at 32-3 and Cranleigh with a mountain to climb.

Cranleigh started the second half a much better side, putting pressure on the Ruts in their own half, but handling errors prevented them from scoring.

After 25 minutes of the second half more missed tackles allowed Rutlishians to add to their score.

This was followed by the best try of the afternoon. Old Rutlishians moved the ball from the Cranleigh 22 through at least seven sets of hands to score under the posts.

The full-whistle signalled a resounding win for second-placed Old Rutlishians.

Cranleigh, for sure, will re-group to try and win their last two league games in order to maintain fourth place in the league.

The Cranes return to action on Saturday March 21 when they welcome Old Caterhamians for their final home game of the season.