 |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Sutton returned to Nationwide South action after two cup wins desperately in need of three points to escape the relegation zone. John Rains started again with 4-4-2 in search of some much needed stability in the defence. In a dire first half, there was barely a shot on goal for either side. United played the more attractive football but the combination of an over-zealous linesman flagging for offside and Weston’s ‘physical’ approach to the game restricted the U’s to just one dead ball chance but Peter Fear’s free kick came to nothing. Weston failed to capitalise on a couple of half chances before taking the lead shortly before the half hour. A Weston forward stepped over a pass towards the United defence and the ball ran through to Marc McGregor, who touched it around Phil Wilson and slotted home, 0-1. Sutton could have gone into the break two goals down when Stuart Booth was caught in possession but he was spared any blushes by Wilson who blocked the first shot away to the edge of the area and, as the ball was curled towards the right side of the goal, recovered to dive across the line and palm it away. Half-time: U’s 0, Weston 1. United came out all guns blazing in the second half. In the opening minute Eddie Akuamoah collected the ball inside his own half and ran to the edge of the Weston box but placed his shot at the goalkeeper. Shortly after, Joff Vansittart passed to Akuamoah and he played it wide to Nigel Brake, who found space on the left to cross low into the area but his centre just evaded Vansittart as he arrived in the six yard box. The U’s continued to look more like scoring and went as close as they had been on the hour. After a foul on Akuamoah, Fear took a quick free kick to Matt Gray and his cross was met near the penalty spot with a powerful header by Vansittart only for the ball to glide agonisingly wide of the left angle. Glenn Boosey was introduced for Booth and within two minutes it paid dividends when he switched the play to Brake on the left and his whipped-in cross was met eight yards out by Vansittart, whose bullet header crashed in just below the bar, 1-1 (79 mins). Having battled so hard to get back into the match, United dismayed their travelling support by conceding within a minute of equalising. In almost identical fashion to United’s goal, Bradley Thomas crossed from the right wing for Mark McKeever to place his header high into the centre of Wilson’s goal, 1-2. Sutton could have levelled again with seven minutes left when Vansittart curled a ball down the right wing to Gray. He left his marker for dead and crossed low to the front post, where Vansittart had raced from the halfway line to meet the ball and connected with a flicked, side-footed volley that rolled across the goal and scraped wide of the left post. Full-time: U’s 1, Weston 2. F-t-L Facts:
Goal: Vansittart (79).
Right, Eddie Akuamoah's run ends with him firing at the 'keeper. U’s v Bognor Regis Town (07/12/04) Sutton will look back on Tuesday’s goal-less draw at the Lane knowing that better finishing would have comfortably given them all the points. The result left the sides with just one goal between them in the two league games this season after Sutton’s one-nil win at Bognor earlier in the season. There were no changes to the side that lost at Weston, new signing Garry Haylock was on the bench. After Nigel Brake’s early cross dropped on the Bognor crossbar, it was the visitors who had the first real chance but when a low cross from the right wing found a man in space twelve yards out, he could only shoot weakly through a crowd of defenders and Phil Wilson dived to tip around the post. Joff Vansittart and Peter Fear both went close for United but it was Eddie Akuamoah who should have given the U’s the lead just before the half hour. Paul Honey capitalised on Bognor’s inability to clear the ball to slide in and hook a pass through from the edge of the area to Akuamoah but he shot straight into the ‘keeper’s legs. Both sides could have taken the lead shortly before the interval – Fear crashed a volley from eighteen yards narrowly over the bar and Wilson then denied the Rocks, palming a low shot around the right post. Half-time: U’s 0, Bognor 0. Sutton’s best chance went begging within a minute of the restart. Vansittart did everything right in bringing the ball down with the outside of his right foot to take him clear of the defence but with most of the goal to aim at, he fired wide of the left post from just outside the box. After the hour, Akuamoah had his second one-on-one of the game, this time holding off two defenders as he broke into the area but again shot into the ‘keeper. Bognor tested Wilson from long range on a couple of occasions, notably with twenty minutes remaining when they fired a rasping shot from wide on the left that caught Wilson by surprise but he recovered to save with his legs but their best chance fell to leading scorer Luke Nightingale, who headed wide from inside the area. The U’s had the better of the game in the final ten minutes but could not find a way past Craig Stoner in the Bognor goal. He saved from Brake after Akuamoah and Vansittart had combined to set him free and was then instrumental in keeping the game goal-less with five minutes left. Akuamoah released Brake down the left and he crossed low behind the defence to Matt Gray, and although he had time to control the ball, his shot towards the right post was pushed wide for a corner. In injury time United had one final chance to snatch all the points but Lewis Gonsalves placed his diving header wide of the goal after finding space to connect with Gray’s free kick. Full-time: U’s 0, Bognor 0. F-t-L Facts:
U’s v Thurrock (11/12/04) On a cold afternoon in Essex the game would be settled by the performances of the two ‘keepers. The only change to Sutton’s starting line up was the addition of Garry Haylock in for Joff Vansittart and there was a welcome return for Craig Watkins who started on the bench. For the first fifteen minutes pretty much nothing happened, both teams were struggling to play any sort of football, with Thurrock shooting high and wide from everywhere and Sutton failing to create any chances at all. The only note worthy occurrence during the opening quarter of an hour was the referee’s inability to book a couple of Thurrock players for some terrible challenges (although at least he was consistent in failing to book people). Just before the half hour Phil Wilson parried a good shot from distance by Glynn Hodges and the resulting rebound was easily cleared by the U’s defence. This seemed to spark Sutton into action and the U’s found themselves beginning to force the Fleet defence into action. John Scarborough started Sutton’s first meaningful surge forward, playing through a nice ball to Garry Haylock who pushed the ball wide to Nigel Brake. Unfortunately a Fleet defender managed to get to the cross before a white shirt could. There was then a very strange, almost déjà vu sequence of events. On the half hour Matt Gray cut in from the right but hit a very tame shot towards the near post which was easily picked up by the Thurrock ‘keeper. Two minutes later Gray had the ball at his feet again and was running in from the right, across the edge of the Thurrock box. As he drew level with the near post he hit another shot, which by all means wasn’t particularly ferocious. However, the ball trickled past the keeper who dived far too late for a shot that ten out of ten times you would expect anyone to save, 1-0. Six minutes later the Sutton faithful had their hearts in their mouths, as Tony Quinton lost the ball near the edge of the Sutton box but fortunately the Thurrock striker put the ball into the covered terracing rather than the back of the net. Shortly after this Thurrock found themselves with a throw-in deep into the Sutton half on the right hand side. After a blatant foul throw (again all the officials consistently failed to pick this up, even though you’d have been pulled up for this at little league / school level) a dangerous cross was whipped in and met on the full at the near post. Somehow Wilson got into a great position and made sure that the U’s went into the break with their slender lead intact. Half time: U’s 1, Thurrock 0. The second half started off on a good foot for the white and green quarters and a bit of sustained pressure saw the U’s get a couple of corners on the bounce. The second of which saw a poor clearance crossed back into the box by Peter Fear and another attempted clearance ricocheted off Scarborough and away for a goal kick. Things went from good to great in the fifty-seventh minute. A long clearance from the back saw Haylock and a Thurrock defender chasing the bouncing ball shoulder to shoulder. As they entered the box Thurrock’s ‘keeper dallied around and eventually decided to come for it. All three came together and somehow Haylock managed to get a touch on it that took the ball away from the others which left him with the simplest of finishes and a goal on his debut, 2-0. With twenty minutes left to go Sutton found themselves with a free kick about 10 yards outside the box after Eddie Akuamoah was unceremoniously tripped by a Thurrock defender. Fear set himself up for the shot but laid it off for Gray who took a touch but then shot high and wide of Fleet’s goal. A substitution for the home team was the turning point of the second half as the sub’ turned from bench-warmer to provider of Thurrock’s goal. He cut into the U’s defence and then pushed a good reverse ball across the edge of the box to Glenn Cole who had time to compose himself and calmly place the ball high and wide of the advancing Wilson into the top right hand corner, 2-1. Sutton then saw Watkins come on up front for the debutant Haylock. Instantly Watkin’s pace caused the Thurrock defenders a problem and after collecting a Fear pass he was pulled back by Fleet’s no. 5. On this occasion the referee finally decided to produce a yellow card. Fear again lined up the free kick and this time hit it and, after a deflection took the sting out of the shot, the ball almost fell to Gray but he was judged offside. For the remainder of the game Sutton found themselves under the cosh, and in the final five minutes seemed to completely forget how to defend. Fortunately Wilson was on top form and made a hat-trick of fine saves to keep the three points heading back to South West London. Final score: U’s 2, Thurrock 1. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Gray (32), Haylock (57).
Right, Garry Haylock forces the keeper to clear a back pass. U’s v Dorchester Town (18/12/04) Two goals in the space of three second half minutes earned United all three points at GGL on Saturday after Dorchester had taken a two-one lead. Following the costly midweek win over Farnham, John Rains went for the wingback formation and brought in Garry Haylock and Craig Watkins for the injured Tony Quinton and Peter Fear. After an even first ten minutes, the Magpies produced the first opening but were forced to look on in disbelief as Justin Keeler beat John Scarborough and Lewis Gonsalves and knocked his shot past Phil Wilson only for it to hit both posts before bouncing back out into the grateful arms of Wilson. The two sides traded half-chances, notably Nigel Brake heading over at the back post for United before Stuart Booth found Eddie Akuamoah in the area and, although he managed to shoot weakly at goal, the referee correctly spotted the defender holding him back and awarded a penalty. Matt Gray stepped up with thirty-five minutes gone to slot the spot-kick low past the ‘keeper into the left of the goal, 1-0. United are evidently a side who don’t learn from their mistakes, though. Having been tested earlier on by a viciously curling free kick from Keeler, Booth conceded possession in the midfield, forcing Vansittart into a desperate challenge twenty-five yards out. The referee penalised Vansittart for handball and, having been behind for only seven minutes, Keeler thrashed an unstoppable free kick into the top left corner to bring Dorchester level, 1-1. Minutes later Gray’s volley was blocked over and Akuamoah then had a good shout for a penalty turned down but the first half ended with the scores level. At the break: U’s 1, Dorchester 1. Within two minutes of the restart, Dorchester were ahead when Sutton’s defence stood still as Keeler ran onto an angled through ball and flicked it over Wilson as he dived at the striker’s feet, 1-2. Sutton weathered a storm in the next fifteen minutes as the visitors controlled the game. Wilson was forced into a couple of key saves including one inspirational block with his feet but the tide turned on the hour when Akuamoah’s run was ended in the area by a clumsy challenge. The referee may have turned the penalty appeal down but the move threw the momentum in United’s favour, aided by the introduction of Glenn Boosey for Haylock. Watkins immediately went close, firing into a defender on the turn, and Scarborough and Vansittart then played a neat one-two that finished with Scarborough shooting powerfully from a tight angle but the ‘keeper turning it over the bar. United were level with a little under twenty minutes remaining when Paul Honey hooked a ball over the defence and Akuamoah raced onto it, holding off a defender and bringing the ball in from the left of the area before firing low past the ‘keeper at his near post, 2-2. The U’s repeated the trick a few minutes later when Watkins judged a ball over the top of the defence, nodded it down into the path of his own run and, from a near identical position to Akuamoah, clipped the ball over the ‘keeper’s legs and just inside the right post, 3-2. In an even final fifteen minutes, United survived a couple of scares as the defence dropped back towards the edge of its own area but Dorchester were unable to find the creative spark to equalise. Full-time: U’s 3, Dorchester 2. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Gray (35 pen), Akuamoah (71), Watkins (73).
Right, Matt Gray hits the opening goal from the penalty spot after Eddie Akuamoah was fouled. U’s v Carshalton Athletic (26/12/04) In the first of back-to-back local derbies, United travelled across the Borough to face the Robins on Boxing Day. New loan signing Kevin Hemsley, a defender from Crawley, fitted straight in at the back and Scott Corbett returned in midfield. Stuart Booth and Garry Haylock both made way by dropping to the bench. As with the League Cup tie earlier in the season, Matt Gray proved to be the match winner, once again slamming home a late penalty to earn the victory for Sutton. But the U’s were forced to come from behind after Garry Elliot headed home a right wing cross to give the hosts the lead in the 39th minute, 0-1. Up to then the game had been an even contest with little in the way of chances. United had the best chances although Lewis Gonsalves had been forced into a goal-line clearance early on. Joff Vansittart saw his poked effort from a Gray long throw tipped wide by Stuart Searle in the Carshalton goal and a flowing U’s move involving Gray, Paul Honey, Corbett and Nigel Brake was unlucky to not to end with a goal as Brake’s low cross whizzed through the area. But the Carshalton opener brought the game to life and United launched an assault on their opponent’s goal that saw Carshalton’s right back, Billy Harding, earn his marching orders for two bookable offences in two minutes – firstly petulantly kicking the ball away and then fouling Honey. In the closing minutes of the half United nearly equalised on two occasions as Vansittart deflected Craig Watkins’s strike at goal only for Elliot to clear off the line at the second attempt and, a minute later, a goalmouth scramble somehow ended with the Robins protecting their goal from Watkins’s and Vansittart’s shots. Half-time: U’s 0, Carshalton 1. The U’s struggled to make the extra man count after the break, though, and it wasn’t until the 69th minute that they managed to get a shot on goal but John Scarborough should have done better than a tame side-footed effort straight at the ‘keeper from the edge of the area after Gray and Eddie Akuamoah had combined to set him up. Two substitutions proved to be the catalysts for Sutton’s victory as, first, Carshalton were forced to take off their influential midfielder, Sam Saunders, to prevent him getting a second booking and, then, United replaced the tiring Corbett with Chris Nurse. Within three minutes of his introduction, Nurse carried possession towards the Robins’ area and slid a pass towards Akuamoah on the right edge of the box. He brought the ball onto on his left foot and crossed low to the penalty spot where Watkins struck a shot down into the ground that bounced up over the dive of Searle into the left of the goal, 1-1. Four minutes later, United completed their fight back when Akuamoah was brought down in the box as he dribbled towards goal and Gray stepped up to strike a fierce penalty high into the middle of the net that Searle had no hope of saving, 2-1. Akuamoah twice should have made the three points safe but hit the post after rounding Searle and then planted a free header over the bar from six yards after Watkins had crossed from the left. The U’s could still have been forced to settle for a point after Brake conceded a free kick outside the area deep into injury time but Mark Costello guided his header well clear of the bar. Final Score: U’s 2, Robins 1. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Watkins (74), Gray (78 pen).
Right, Joff Vansittart sends the ball goalwards but Stuart Searle will tip it wide. |
||||||||||||
