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Six days after Sutton’s Boxing Day victory at Colston Avenue the two sides met again in the league at Gander Green Lane for the first game of 2005. John Rains named an unchanged starting eleven but the substitutes’ bench was notable for the absence of Andrew Martin, who has left the club following limited first team opportunities of late. United’s new year got off to the worst possible start when Kevin Hemsley jumped to clear away a harmless cross only for the ball to loop off his head, over the stranded Phil Wilson and into the U’s goal after only 28 seconds of play, 0-1. The U’s response, though, was to dominate the rest of the game. So much so that Carshalton barely had a sniff at goal, save for a twenty-second minute strike from Des Boateng that curved sweetly from 25 yards onto the crossbar and behind for a goal kick. Searching for an equaliser, Sutton looked most threatening when using the wings and crossing into the Robins’ box – Joff Vansittart twice went close with towering headers but could not muster sufficient power to beat Stuart Searle on either occasion. Nigel Brake gave a torrid time to the visitors’ right back and was unlucky not to create a goal when he outpaced his man and whipped a low ball into the area that Eddie Akuamoah was only just pipped to. With thirty-three minutes gone the U’s were level, scoring with a well-worked goal. Brake slid the ball down the left wing to Akuamoah, who looked to have carried the ball too close to the touchline but managed to fire a low cross to the near post that Vansittart flicked left-footed into the goal. Half-time: U’s 1, Carshalton 1. Sutton stepped up a gear after the interval but had to wait nearly half an hour before they would take the lead. Before then, Scott Corbett shot wastefully over the bar when well-positioned to side-foot home and Akuamoah capitalised on some poor defensive control to take the ball into the area but failed to shoot before he was closed down. Matt Gray also went close for the U’s but his hammered shot from the corner of the box narrowly missed the right post after good work from Craig Watkins. United’s reward for dominating the game finally came with seventeen minutes remaining. Gray chased a ball that looked to be heading out of play on the right wing and stopped the ball before attempting a cross that deflected up off a challenging defender high into the air. As the ball dropped towards the near post, Searle remained rooted to his line and John Scarborough ran in to knock the ball home on the volley, 2-1. Having broken the Carshalton resistance, Sutton secured the three points in the eighty-first minute. Paul Honey and Gray exchanged passes near the right corner flag before Gray hit a low ball to the edge of the six yard box to Vansittart. He controlled it and looked set to back-heel towards goal before slipping, sending the ball towards Akuamoah who shot low into the right side of the net, 3-1. The icing on the cake for Sutton came with only three minutes left as Brake, in possession on the left touchline and forty-yards out, hit a cross-come-shot that sailed over the despairing reach of Searle and dropped just below the bar. Final score: U’s 4, Carshalton 1. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Vansittart (33), Scarborough (73), Akuamoah (81), Brake (87).
Right, Joff Vansittart towers over the defence to head at goal. U’s v Redbridge (08/01/05) United’s recent run of good form continued as they emerged as easy winners against a weak Redbridge side. John Rains made one change to the team that won back to back games against Carshalton, replacing Joff Vansittart with Peter Fear and moving Eddie Akuamoah up front to accommodate Fear in the midfield. If truth be told, the eventual five-nil score line was not a reflection on how good Sutton were but of how poor this Redbridge side in turmoil are – they have lost their manager and seven players in recent weeks. Remarkably, aside from the five goals there were very few incidents of note during the ninety minutes. Following his goal against the Robins last weekend, Nigel Brake went from strength to strength today, playing a pivotal role in two of United’s goals. In the opening fifteen minutes, Brake proved to be the biggest threat to the Motormen, beating the right back on two occasions and crossing into the area only for his first centre to drop narrowly wide of the back post and the second to be headed behind by a defender at the near post as Akuamoah and Craig Watkins closed in. With eighteen minutes gone the U’s should have taken the lead but Kevin Hemsley placed his downward header from Fear’s cross too close to the ‘keeper, who dived low to his left to save. Sutton didn’t have to wait much longer to take the lead, though, as their dominant share of the possession lead to Fear’s free kick being knocked for a corner on the left and Lewis Gonsalves powered in Matt Gray’s dead ball with his head at the back post, 1-0 (25 mins). Three minutes later the score was doubled when Fear played the ball from the middle to Gray on the right and his low cross was turned into his own net from within the six yard box by Redbridge’s centre back, 2-0. Five minutes before the break, United could have extended their lead further when Fear and Gray set up a free kick for Gonsalves to hit but his drilled effort from eighteen yards was blocked eight yards out and none of a crowd of Sutton players could turn it goalwards. Half-time: U’s 2, Redbridge 0. United continued to be the better side after the break but, aside from a Fear free kick that narrowly missed the left post, did not really look like scoring until the hosts gifted them a third twenty minutes into the half when a harmless cross from the left was met at the back post by Redbridge’s number 8, who shinned it across goal and inside the left post, 3-0. Two minutes later, the U’s best move of the game produced a fourth goal to really put the result beyond any doubt. Gray played the ball to the centre of the pitch to John Scarborough, whose first touch lobbed the ball out wide to Brake. He brought it under control, left his marker for dead and crossed to the middle where Scott Corbett glanced a header from eight yards to the right hand side of the net, 4-0. Finally, with six minutes remaining, Sutton added a fifth from the penalty spot after Brake’s run at pace into the area brought a foul from the Redbridge defence. Gray once again stepped up for penalty duty and hit a low shot to the left that the ‘keeper got a hand to but could not keep out. The goal provided the only downside of the result for United, though, as Gray collapsed to the floor after kicking the ball and limped off. Final score: U’s 5, Redbridge 0. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Gonsalves (25), own goals (28, 65), Corbett (67), Gray (84 pen).
Right, Eddie Akuamoah holds off a Redbridge defender. U’s v Grays Athletic (15/01/05) Sutton improved markedly on their performance at Grays earlier in the season but could not oust the runaway League-leaders from the FA Trophy on Saturday. Injuries to Eddie Akuamoah and Matt Gray and the ineligibility of on-loan Kevin Hemsley forced John Rains into a number of changes and he elected to play Scott Corbett at centre-back, Stuart Booth at right wing-back and Chris Nurse in midfield. Joff Vansittart returned upfront but elsewhere the side was unchanged from last weekend’s victory over Redbridge. In the opening fifteen minutes the game looked to be going the way the league positions would suggest as Grays swarmed over the Sutton goal, four times threatening to take the lead but failing due to some lacklustre finishing and a desperate goal-line clearance by Nigel Brake. But as the half wore on, United upped their attacking impetus and began to look dangerous as Vansittart dominated the Essex side’s back four in the air. With the first forty-five minutes half gone, Sutton had a golden opportunity to open the scoring when Vansittart flicked on a Phil Wilson long kick to send Craig Watkins racing clear of the defence but the U’s young striker belted his shot against the bar from just inside the area. Minutes later Watkins connected with an acrobatic bicycle kick near the penalty spot but it flashed agonisingly wide of the left post. The game swung from end to end in the remainder of the half, as the two sides traded half chances but both failed to capitalise on any of them. Grays were guilty of putting a free header wide and could have done better with a volley from the edge of the box that was straight at Wilson. For Sutton, Brake struck a ball across the face of goal when Paul Honey was free in the middle and Vansittart was unlucky not to find the back of the net when he out-jumped the ‘keeper to head Peter Fear’s cross at goal, only for it to drop wide of the right post. For all the entertainment provided by the two teams in the first half, the talking point amongst fans at half-time was an incredible booking on Brake after he chased back and won the ball on the half-way line with an impeccably timed tackle. The referee has reputedly since stated that he made an error and the booking should be rescinded but it remains to be seen whether the FA will act on his advice. Half-time: U’s 0, Grays 0. In the second half the benefit of the superior fitness that comes with Grays’ professional status appeared to take its toll as they dominated possession. They continued to be given the helping hand of some bizarre refereeing decisions, notably Vansittart finding his way into the referee’s book for jumping into a defender as the pushing and elbowing on him went unpunished all afternoon. Just before the hour, Athletic took the lead when a cross from the right found Dennis Oli unmarked in the six yard box and he couldn’t fail to head the ball past Wilson for the day’s first goal, 0-1. Sutton battled for an equaliser but struggled to break into the visitors’ area and were forced to resort to long distance shots – Nurse going closest with a twenty five yard drive that went a foot over the bar after Vansittart had headed possession to him. With fifteen minutes remaining, Grays put the game beyond reach with a second goal, Leroy Griffiths nipping in to knock the ball past a stranded Wilson after a well-placed through ball had left the U’s ‘keeper with no choice but to come off his line and attempt to get there first, 0-2. Lewis Gonsalves almost grabbed a consolation goal for United when he reacted first to Watkins’s knock down to stab a left-footed shot narrowly wide of the right post. Sutton’s other hope of an unlikely comeback was denied when a late penalty appeal fell on death ears. Final Score: U’s 0, Grays 2. F-t-L Facts:
Right, Craig Watkins connects with a bicycle kick but sends his effort just wide of the left post. U’s v Cambridge City (18/01/05) United lost in the league for the first time in seven games on Tuesday night as Cambridge City outplayed the U’s in a comfortable 3-0 win. Kevin Hemsley returned after being ineligible at the weekend and Matt Gray made it on to the bench after injury kept him out on Saturday. The visitors started as much the better side and it was only a matter of time before they were a goal up. With thirteen minutes on the clock Matt Robinson collected a through ball on the right of the area and fired a precise shot past Phil Wilson into the bottom right corner, 0-1. Ten minutes later it could have been two when Stuart Booth failed to clear his lines but Wilson deflected the low shot away with his right boot. Sutton’s best chance of the half ended in disappointment after Joff Vansittart laid the ball back to Nigel Brake only for the U’s left wing back to side foot clear of the bar when well placed to hit the target. Otherwise, Sutton’s attacking threat was largely restricted to a number of corners that were easily cleared by City. In injury time at the end of the first half, Cambridge could have added a second when a forward span off his marker to create two yards of space in the area but fired across goal and wide of the left post. Half-time: U’s 0, Cambridge 1. The second period started in disastrous fashion for the U’s when the visitors added a second within a minute. A free kick from the right wing was met at the back post by an unmarked Bradley Stone who made no mistake in planting his header into the back of the net, 0-2. United did their best to get back into the game but the Cambridge ‘keeper barely had to defend his goal. A two minute period after 65 minutes was his busiest spell as he saved a curled free kick from Scott Corbett and then watched stranded as Steve Douglas headed on a Stuart Booth cross and a City defender dive headed the ball inches wide of his own goal from six yards. The game was wrapped up for Cambridge when Wilson sent a striker tumbling in the box and was sent off by the strict referee with twenty minutes remaining. Lewis Gonsalves put on the keeper’s gloves but could do nothing to save Robinson’s well-hit spot kick, 0-3. The introduction of Matt Gray brought more life to the United attack but the story for the remainder of the game was the performance of Gonsalves, who made three saves in the final five minutes to prevent Cambridge adding further to the score line. Final Score: U’s 0, Cambridge 3. F-t-L Facts:
U’s v Havant & Waterlooville (22/01/05) Sutton came back from Hampshire with all three points but, despite some attractive football, made a meal of winning against a Havant side reduced to ten men in the first half. Eddie Akuamoah, Peter Fear and Matt Gray were all fit enough to return to the starting eleven with Stuart Booth, Chris Nurse and Craig Watkins dropping to the bench. United’s fans were still changing ends when Gray gave the team the best possible start after only 40 seconds, cutting in from the right and rifling a low, left-footed drive that deflected off a defender and sped into the bottom left corner past former U’s ‘keeper, Gareth Howells, 1-0. Minutes later the lead could have doubled when Joff Vansittart found Scott Corbett on the edge of the box and he hit a low curler that was saved by Howells to his left. Havant’s ex-professional contingent were responsible for levelling the game only ten minutes after having gone behind - Darren Caskey struck a corner from the right that Dean Holdsworth headed in at the near post, 1-1. Both sides had chances to take the lead within the next fifteen minutes. Sutton played some of their most fluid passing football of the season, sweeping the ball from flank to flank as they looked for an opening. Corbett and Fear went closest for United but could not beat Howells to the ball after Paul Honey had released Gray to cross from the right. Havant meanwhile headed over when well-placed to at least hit the target. The game changed in Sutton’s favour on the half hour when Kevin Hemsley contested a cross on the Havant goal line and, after falling to the floor, was petulantly kicked by the irrational Robbie Pethick. The referee rightly gave Pethick his marching orders and awarded Sutton a penalty that Gray struck firmly slightly to the right of centre as the ‘keeper dived the wrong way, 2-1. Within a minute Akuamoah almost extended Sutton’s advantage but his clever flick was straight at the ‘keeper. At the break: U’s 2, Havant & Waterlooville 1. United started the second half looking to put the game beyond doubt and came close as Vansittart found Gray wide on the right and he picked out Fear on the edge of the box but the U’s midfielder’s curled effort was headed away four yards out by a Havant defender. But as Sutton looked to attack they left space at the back that Havant exposed on the counter attack with twenty-five minutes remaining – Dave Town fired into the legs of Wilson but his effort looped up off of Wilson and into the goal, 2-2. The hosts made the classic mistake of conceding right after hauling themselves back into the game, though, as the U’s scored again before a minute had passed. As Havant attacked, Corbett won possession and broke with the ball from the right of defence. His pass picked out Fear in the middle of the pitch and with one touch he put the ball beyond the defence to Nigel Brake on the left. Brake kept ahead of his marker down the left wing and swung in a low cross that eluded Vansittart at the near post but was met in the middle six-yards out by Akuamoah who guided it into the roof of the net, 3-2. Watkins was introduced for the tiring Fear with twenty minutes left and almost made an instant impact but his ball into the middle to Brake was cleared away by the last defender. With three minutes left Watkins should have given the U’s an unassailable lead when Brake intercepted possession and laid him in behind the defence but despite firing past Howells, Watkins’s effort came back off the top of the post and Vansittart under challenge could not hook the ball at goal with enough force to find the net. As the game reached its conclusion Sutton frustrated their opposition by holding possession in the corner and despite Havant’s attempts to break it was the U’s who went nearest to adding further to the score but Corbett’s twenty yard effort deflected up and over the bar. Full-time: U’s 3, Havant & Waterlooville 2. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Gray (1, 32 pen), Akuamoah (66).
Right, Matt Gray's penalty passes Howells for the second goal (the ball is the small blur on the right). U's v Woking, League Cup 3rd Round (25/01/05) United’s 2004/05 League Cup campaign came to an end on Tuesday night at the hands of Conference National side Woking, the first of two meetings between the sides in eight days. Kevin Hemsley’s return to Crawley forced JR to shuffle the team, dropping captain Scott Corbett from midfield into the back three with Chris Nurse filling the gap in the midfield. Eddie Akuamoah’s niggling injury saw him start on the bench with Craig Watkins returning upfront. The U’s started the game in fine form and could have had the lead on no less than three occasions in the opening eight minutes. The best of those chances fell to Nurse with only three minutes gone when Nigel Brake’s deep corner reached him unmarked at the back post only for him to plant his header wide of the goal. Within moments Sutton could have scored twice more but first Matt Gray’s corner was headed away from John Scarborough right on the goal line. Then, great work from Peter Fear to keep the ball in play on the right touchline lead to a cross into the area that picked out Brake’s run but he volleyed well clear of the bar. Having started so positively, the U’s soon found themselves a goal down. After the warning of a free header placed narrowly wide, Woking attacked down the right wing and Steve Ferguson flicked the cross home with his head despite Phil Wilson’s best effort to prevent the ball crossing the line after it had hit the far post, 0-1 (15 mins). In an even remainder of the half United’s best chance came after a surging run from Paul Honey took him past three defenders to win a corner. Gray’s dead ball from the right was met with a forceful downward header from Joff Vansittart that bounced down on the six yard line but up and wide of the left post. Vansittart should perhaps have done better minutes later when Watkins’s pace created a chance for him in the middle but he could not stab it goalwards. The threat to Sutton’s goal came largely when the Woking forwards ran at the back line. One such chance saw the U’s back off to the point that the visitors’ striker was able to slam a hard shot from eighteen yards that Wilson did well to turn around the left post. United’s number one had to be on his toes again before the end of the half as he dived to his right to palm a deflected shot past the upright. At the break: U’s 0, Woking 1. Steve Douglas was introduced for Vansittart at half time as United started the second half as they did the first, looking the better team. But despite an opening five minutes where Gray dominated the Woking left back Sutton barely had a chance to even send a shot at goal. The Cards, by contrast, were much more clinical in their creating and finishing. Nine minutes after the interval they doubled their lead, Chris Sharpling heading home a right wing cross despite Wilson’s appeal for offside, 0-2. United battled bravely for a way back into the match and Douglas came close to a first senior goal as he tried to bundle the ball over the line. Sutton’s vociferous appeals for a handball were flatly turned down by the referee as Woking cleared the ball away. With twenty minutes remaining, Woking put the result beyond doubt with a swift counter attack that sent Raphael Nade free to take the ball around Wilson and knock it home off the bottom of the right post, 0-3. The visitors had the ball in the back of the net again three minutes later but this time the linesman’s flag did come to the U’s rescue. Final score: U’s 0, Woking 3. F-t-L Facts:
Right, Moments later Nigel Brake volleys over the bar. U's v Grays Athletic, (29/01/05) United were comprehensively outclassed by league-leaders Grays at the Lane a fortnight after the Essex side had ended the U’s FA Trophy run. New signing Romauld Bouadji fitted straight into the back three with Scott Corbett returning to his more familiar midfield role at the expense of Chris Nurse, who dropped to the bench. An explosive start from Grays saw the game ended as a contest within the opening 17 minutes as they scored twice to open a lead that Sutton rarely looked like narrowing. John Martin struck both goals for the visitors, first controlling a goal-bound shot to leave Phil Wilson heading in the wrong direction and he coolly jinked around Wilson before slotting home, 0-1. His second came nine minutes later when Joff Vansittart was dispossessed on Sutton’s left side and the cross to the back post fell nicely for Martin, who controlled the ball before firing up into the roof of the net past a helpless Wilson, 0-2. Sutton’s hopes of any comeback were further dashed when injury forced Lewis Gonsalves out of the game after only 21 minutes. Graham Tydeman was his replacement, fitting into the midfield as Corbett was once again required to play out of position in the defence. The U’s had a couple of half sniffs at goal, Eddie Akuamoah almost laying on a chance for Craig Watkins and Vansittart seeing a header cleared off the line. As the half was coming to an end Watkins connected with an overhead kick that was deflected up in the air on the edge of the six yard and cleared away from the head of Vansittart. Half-time: U’s 0, Grays 2. If there was a lesson to be learnt from the first half, it was that Grays would come out of the blocks fast. United, though, hadn’t learnt this lesson and within fourteen minutes of the second half found themselves a further three goals behind. Leroy Griffiths added the third two minutes after the break, as a pacey counter attack sent him free down the middle and he rounded Wilson to the left before rolling the ball into the middle of the goal, 0-3. United’s agony was compounded by an injury to Matt Gray that saw his withdrawal and the introduction of Danny Dray. Vansittart flashed a left-footed twenty yard drive narrowly over the bar but it was only a matter of time before Grays added a fourth. With possession lost in the middle of the field, Grays forced an excellent one-handed save from Wilson but the ball dropped kindly to Dean Brennan on the penalty spot and he drilled a shot through a crowd of defenders, 0-4. A minute later it was five as Steve West was given far too much room on the left of the area and he curled a precise shot into the far side of the goal, 0-5. If things weren’t bad enough for United, a miserable game got worse when Vansittart appeared to talk himself into a straight red card with fifteen minutes still remaining. Grays may have been thinking about chalking up a cricket score at that stage but to the credit of United’s ten men, they only conceded once more as Grays’s professional fitness kicked in. With four minutes to go, Martin completed the rout and his hat-trick when he got on the end of a pass cut back from the goal-line to fire into the top of the net. Final score: U’s 0, Grays 6. F-t-L Facts:
Right, Joff Vansittart loses out in the air as the Grays defender grabs a handful of his collar. |
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