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United secured a valuable three points in their battle against relegation with a deserved one-nil victory at the Dripping Pan. Gary Elliot started in central defence following his move across the Borough allowing Tony Quinton to move into midfield. New loan signing Jermaine Hunter was on the bench. After a quiet opening, the game sprang to life around the twenty-five minute mark as Sutton began to work some openings. John Scarborough started the move, cutting out a pass before releasing Quinton. He chipped wide to Matt Gray but his low cross through the area was just out of Scott Corbett’s range at the back post and he slid a shot wide when a call from Nigel Brake would have left him with an easier chance at goal. Prior to that the closest either side had come was ex-U Jon Nurse firing comfortably wide from a tight angle. It was the nearest that Nurse would come to goal all afternoon as the U’s defensive trio of Scarborough, Elliot and Lewis Gonsalves kept him at bay. Within a couple of minutes of Corbett’s near miss, Sutton tested the Lewes ‘keeper for the first time but he saved with his legs from Joff Vansittart after Elliot had headed down Brake’s cross from the right wing. Corbett was causing chaos in the Lewes box moments later when he hit a powerful shot from the edge of the box that the ‘keeper failed to hold and a defender sent his dive-headed clearance only narrowly wide of the right post. Injury to Vansittart saw his withdrawal after thirty-six minutes and brought the introduction of Hunter, who’s joined the club from Stevenage Borough until the end of the season. The home side’s play throughout the first half was frequently lacking in imagination, as they opted to play the ball long rather than attempt a passing game on the badly cut-up pitch. Phil Wilson’s participation generally involved collecting Lewes’s overhit passes but he was reduced to a worried spectator towards the end of the half as centre from the left eluded all of the defence and scraped the paint off the right post as it went behind for a goal kick. In injury time at the end of the half, Eddie Akuamoah was uprooted twenty yards out but Gray’s free kick was charged down by the Lewes wall. Half-time: U’s 0, Lewes 0. Sutton made a shaky start to the second period as the hard-working midfield and defensive display momentarily went walkabout. Wilson was forced into a comfortable save from twenty-five yards but nearly gifted Lewes the opener minutes later when he dropped a corner at the feet of a striker but he hooked his shot wide of the left upright. After the temporary blip, United re-imposed themselves on the game. Paul Honey was a commanding figure in midfield, winning possession on countless occasions, and his battling display allowed Quinton and Corbett to surge forward whenever possible. United did their best to play a passing game on the uneven surface and made a good job of it aside from the odd stray ball. One impressive passing move on the hour saw Brake cross from the left and Akuamoah aimed a clever sideways flick from the near post to Gray just inside the box but his shot was blocked by a well-positioned defender. Hunter had a promising debut, showing a good attitude in chasing many lost causes, and almost capped his first game with a goal after 66 minutes when he burst onto a pass in the area and managed to round the ‘keeper. Having been forced wide he chipped the ball goal-wards only for the ‘keeper to have recovered to flap it away from the goal-line. It was the debutant who was hitting the target again five minutes later. Quinton switched play to Gray on the right and he brought it infield before flicking a pass through to Hunter inside the eighteen yard box but he drilled low into the legs of the ‘keeper. Lewes missed an amazing opportunity to take the lead with a little over fifteen minutes left as Francis Duku headed against the bar, leaving Lee Newman with the simple task of knocking the rebound into the open goal but he sent his left-footed strike wide of the left post from inside the six yard box. Wilson then kept the score level, diving full-length to his right to tip a crisply struck thirty-yarder for a corner. With ten minutes to go, the U’s scored the all important goal. Quinton intercepted the ball in the middle of the park and found Corbett. As United’s skipper dribbled forward, Quinton steamed past him and Corbett rolled the ball around the last defender into his path. Quinton and the ‘keeper raced to be first to the ball and the U’s midfielder slid for it as the ‘keeper went down, flicking it over him into the middle of the goal, 1-0. The U’s closed out the game as the better side and, although Craig Dobson on the Lewes right wing looked a danger, Sutton came the closest to adding to the scoreline when Quinton found Akuamoah with his back to goal ten yards out and he laid it off to Hunter but he shot tamely at the ‘keeper. Final score: U’s 1, Lewes 0. F-t-L Facts:
Goal: Quinton (80).
Top Right, Joff Vansittart turns to shoot after Gary Elliot has headed the ball down. Bottom Left, United celebrate Tony Quinton's 80th minute winner. Bottom Right, Jermaine Hunter strikes at the 'keeper in the last minute. U’s v Egham Town, SSC QF (08/03/05) United moved within a game of the reaching the Surrey Senior Cup final for a third consecutive season with a scrappy two-one victory over Egham. With Joff Vansittart having picked up an injury at the weekend, Craig Watkins returned to the starting line-up. In the defence, Gary Elliot missed the game having already been involved in the competition for Carshalton and Nigel Brake dropped to the bench - JR handed starts to Richard Blackwell and Craig Howard. Sutton had the best of a lacklustre first half, chiefly because Lewis Gonsalves headed the opening goal of the game after 10 minutes, rising at the back post to guide Matt Gray’s right wing cross into the back of the net, 1-0 (Read more on why we missed this goal: The Egham Tea Bar Disaster). Otherwise, there was barely a shot on target between the two sides. Watkins twice shot wide for Sutton but the best chance fell to Eddie Akuamoah. After Chris Nurse had struck into the legs of the ‘keeper from the left of the area, Watkins beat a defender to the rebound and crossed to the back post but Akuamoah could not jump high enough to plant his header anywhere other than wide of the upright. With the half almost over, Watkins raced onto a long ball and flicked it over the last defender before cutting it back from the touchline to the edge of the box. The ball dropped perfectly for Tony Quinton only for the U’s midfielder to volley clear of the bar. Half-time: U’s 1, Egham 0. Those hoping the second half would exceed the first in entertainment levels were to be disappointed. The hosts opened the half positively, forcing Phil Wilson into stopping an early shot that many thought had found the back of the net. But Sutton were soon back on top, albeit incapable of stringing together enough passes to put the game beyond doubt. Even after the U’s notched a second goal in the 58th minute the result rarely looked safe. Gray’s corner from the right was headed downwards at the back post by Gonsalves and Watkins put his head in the way of a defender’s boot to nod the ball past the ‘keeper, 2-0. Gray almost added a third 9 minutes later after Akuamoah had been chopped down on the edge of the box but he curled his free kick narrowly high of the bar. Egham set up a tense end to the game by pulling a goal back with nineteen minutes remaining. A counter-attack down the right wing ended with Soloman Torson heading home after Wilson had parried an earlier shot, 2-1. But they were unable to work an opening to create an equaliser and it was the U’s who went closest to finding another goal when Quinton struck low at the ‘keeper from twenty yards. Full-time: U’s 2, Egham 1. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Gonsalves (10), Watkins (58). U’s v Weston-super-Mare (12/03/05) United’s fight against relegation suffered a blow on Saturday when Weston inflicted a two-one defeat and left the U’s precariously positioned two points above the bottom three. After the midweek victory in the Surrey Senior Cup, both Gary Elliot and Jermaine Hunter were eligible for this Conference South game and took places in the starting eleven. The U’s started the game buoyed on by back-to-back victories and looked the better side in the opening fifteen minutes. Hunter was unlucky to have a foul given against him after contesting a Matt Gray long ball with the ‘keeper and would have been left with an open goal were in not for the intervention of the referee’s whistle. Eddie Akuamoah then went close shooting over the bar from eighteen yards after John Scarborough and Nigel Brake set him up. But Weston then took a stranglehold on the game and Brake was forced to head off the U’s goal line before Weston fired over and then saw a shot deflect right across the face of the United goal. Phil Wilson blocked an effort at the near post with his legs but was caught out five minutes later when Weston finally took the lead just before the half hour. Sutton’s ‘keeper failed to collect a cross into the middle of the area from the left and Matthew Rawlins slotted the ball underneath him and into the back of the net, 0-1. United looked to be fighting back into the game as half time approached, a period of pressure in which they had a series of three corners and saw Hunter spurn an excellent chance to open his U’s account – When the Weston ‘keeper fluffed a clearance outside of his area, Hunter only had to roll the ball into the open net from thirty yards but put it agonisingly wide of the right post. Then, on the stroke of half-time, the visitors increased their lead, capitalising on a fortunate bounce within the area that allowed Rawlins to shoot low into the bottom right corner of the goal despite Wilson getting a hand to the shot. At the break: U’s 0, Weston 2. Gray reduced the arrears from the penalty spot twelve minutes into the half. Paul Honey won the ball on the left of the pitch before feeding a pass to Scott Corbett. He held off the challenge of a defender and crossed to the back post where Tony Quinton was set to knock the ball home only for Michael Hayward to deliberately bat the ball away with his arm. Gray struck the penalty firmly to the left and past the ‘keeper’s dive to put the U’s back in the match, 1-2. An injury to John Scarborough forced Rains to rearrange the team, bringing on Craig Watkins and dropping Akuamoah and Quinton backwards into midfield and defence respectively. Shortly later Honey hobbled from the pitch to be replaced by Graham Tydeman. After the changes neither side really looked like adding to the scoring. Weston came closest as Brake headed off the line for the second time in the game and Quinton was perhaps fortunate to escape without so much as a booking when he bundled over a striker on the edge of the area when he was through on goal. For United, Corbett had the best chances, shooting into the side-netting with ten minutes remaining and then volleying high of the goal in the final minute after an Elliot long throw to the edge of the area. Final score: U’s 1, Weston 2. F-t-L Facts:
Goal: Gray (57 pen).
Top Left, Jermaine Hunter stretches for a Nigel Brake cross. Top Right, Michael Hayward prevents the ball from reaching Tony Quinton by using his arm. Bottom, Matt Gray finds the net with his penalty. U’s v Maidenhead (19/03/05) United battled back from two-nil down to secure a point against Maidenhead but were perhaps denied all the points by the dubious nature of Maidenhead’s opener. Ryan Palmer went straight into the team, having returned from Crawley, and took the place of the injured John Scarborough whilst Joff Vansittart started for the first time since picking up an injury against Lewes, at the expense of Jermaine Hunter, who dropped to the bench. With Maidenhead only two points behind the U’s in the relegation battle, this was one of those proverbial six-pointers, so it was encouraging after United’s abject display against Weston last week that they came out at least trying to play football in the early stages. After only three minutes Craig Watkins had Sutton’s first sight of goal, latching onto a Phil Wilson long kick but firing at the ‘keeper from the right side of the area. Minutes later, a flowing move saw Tony Quinton and Eddie Akuamoah work the ball to Paul Honey in the middle of the park. He sprayed the ball wide to Matt Gray with his first touch and Gray brought it inside from the right wing before firing a rasping, left-footed drive from 25 yards that the ‘keeper got behind and held. Barely had the Maidenhead ‘keeper kicked the ball downfield, than the U’s were right back in the visitors’ third of the pitch but Vansittart spurned Sutton’s best chance so far, side-footing a volley into the ‘keeper’s arms after Gray’s cross had looped over him and left Vansittart with a great opportunity at the back post. It was Vansittart’s last action of the match as he soon limped off to be replaced by Hunter. Maidenhead came into the match having been outplayed for the first twenty minutes and soon tested Phil Wilson with a 25 yard drive. Quinton then volleyed off the line before Wilson blocked two shots and saved a header from point blank range. United fought back from ten minutes of Maidenhead pressure and nearly scored when Gary Elliot threw the ball long to Scott Corbett on the halfway line and he held off two challenges before hitting a low pass across the pitch to Gray. He dribbled past two men to the edge of the box before rifling a left-footed shot a foot wide of the right post. With two minutes to go before half-time, Craig O’Connor beat Wilson to a ball in the area, used his hand to guide it around the U’s ‘keeper and then slammed the ball in from a tight angle. Wilson and Gray were booked for their appeals but the referee and assistants remained unmoved as the only people in the ground not to have seen O’Connor’s deliberate handball, 0-1. There was more drama before the break as Dean Clark went through the back of Akuamoah with a late challenge but escaped unpunished. Seconds later he barged into Corbett and received a second yellow card, having earlier been booked for dissent. Half-time: U’s 0, Maidenhead 1. After the break, Sutton looked to exploit the advantage of having an extra man but although they had the lion’s share of the possession, the final ball always seemed to be lacking. Eventually, after a good fifteen minute spell, a bouncing ball in the area dropped perfectly into the path of Akuamoah but he inexplicably hammered his first-time shot wide of the left post from only six yards out. Watkins was next to test the ‘keeper, striking a dipping shot from 25 yards that the goalie held above his head. But despite the extra man, United still looked shaky at the back and O’Connor capitalised on some unsure defending with 68 minutes gone to head home a rebound from a couple of yards after a corner from the left, 0-2. With fifteen minutes remaining, Lewis Gonsalves gave United a glimmer of hope by reducing the deficit. Gray took a free kick from the right wing and, as the ‘keeper came for the ball, Gonsalves rose above him and guided a header beneath the crossbar, 1-2. United’s hopes of securing some points were rekindled but Maidenhead tried to deny the U’s by delaying play whenever possible. O’Connor continued to less than endear himself to the home fans by falling dramatically to the floor every time a Sutton player breathed near him. Finally the referee took exception to his actions and showed him a yellow card. With five minutes to go, United could have scored twice from crosses from the right but failed to hit the target on either occasion. First, Akuamoah’s corner was flicked on at the near post by Hunter but Watkins headed over from ten yards when unmarked. Gray then centred the ball beyond the defensive line only for Brake to send his header wide of the left post. Just as it began to look as if United would not find a leveller, Gray’s corner from the left was met by Gonsalves and, although his header was stopped, Honey was there to turn the ball home from close range and rescue a point for the U’s. Full-time: U’s 2, Maidenhead 2. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Gonsalves (75), Honey (90).
Right, United's players celebrate as Paul Honey's shot finds the back of the net. U’s v Eastbourne Borough (26/03/05) Dom O’Shea rescued a point for United at Eastbourne on Saturday, coming off the bench with four minutes remaining to score with virtually the last kick of the game. Gary Elliot, and Joff Vansittart joined John Scarborough on the injured list, so Nigel Brake and Chris Nurse returned to the starting eleven.. Neither side really had many chances in the first half as they struggled to cope with a strong wind blowing the length of Eastbourne’s Priory Lane ground. United, playing with the wind behind them, sent many a long ball over the top of the defence and comfortably through to the ‘keeper. The hosts had the best of the openings, first missing the target when well placed to score and then being denied by Phil Wilson. For Sutton, Corbett came closest but fired a crisply struck volley straight at the ‘keeper from the edge of the box after a ball from Matt Gray on the right. The half ended on a bad note for United, though, when Eastbourne took the lead in injury time. A counter attack down the left wing lead to a ball being pulled back from the goal-line on the left of the area and Danny Simmonds slotted the ball home from eight yards. Half-time: U’s 0, Eastbourne 1. United started the second half positively and were back on level terms within three minutes. Eddie Akuamoah controlled the ball on the left of the area and was tripped by his marker as he turned towards goal. Matt Gray, for the eighth time this season, stepped up and knocked the penalty past the ‘keeper, this time putting it to the left of the goal beyond the reach of the goalie, 1-1. Both sides looked for a second but the final ball was often lacking. The U’s had a lot of possession around the Eastbourne area but were kept at bay from scoring by some aggressive tackling. Craig Watkins was twice felled as he spun off his man and Akuamoah was not only brought down but stamped on by a defender who received nothing more than a talking to from the referee. With nine minutes to go, United looked like they were heading back to Sutton with no points when a rare mistake by Wilson gifted a second goal to Eastbourne. Wilson looked to have the ball in his grasp after a shot from Yemi Odubade but dropped it straight back at the feet of the striker, who bundled it home, 1-2. But United’s luck changed when O’Shea replaced Honey with four minutes left. Having shown good promise with a run and cross from the left wing, O’Shea then battled to win the ball on the right of the area in the final minute and squeezed in a shot towards the near post that went through the ‘keeper’s arms and legs before rolling across the line. Queue wild celebrations from Sutton’s players and fans. Final score: U’s 2, Eastbourne 2. F-t-L Facts:
Goals: Gray (48 pen), O’Shea (90).
Right, Dom O'Shea is mobbed by Sutton's players after his equaliser. U’s v Newport County (28/03/05) For the third game on the trot Sutton had to settle for a share of the spoils, this time drawing nil-nil at home to fellow relegation battlers Newport County. John Rains named an unchanged starting eleven from Saturday’s two-all draw at Eastbourne. The U’s started the game in positive fashion, Chris Nurse heading narrowly wide from a Matt Gray corner but it was the visitors who were first to test a goalkeeper, Phil Wilson being forced into contesting a high ball dropping in the six yard box. United’s number one failed to hold onto the cross but a Newport forward fired wide. Nurse was looking impressive in these early stages and after picking up possession on the right wing, he exchanged passes with Eddie Akuamoah before forcing the ‘keeper into a save with his legs. Later in the half he was in the right place to shoot again but rifled a shot a yard over the bar from the edge of the penalty area. Newport may have felt unlucky not to score before the break when Nigel Brake headed an effort off of the line from a right corner and moments earlier Wilson had back-peddled to claim an ambitious lob just beneath the bar. But it was United who really should have taken the lead when Gray’s long throw from the right was flicked on into the path of Scott Corbett who had a free header from six yards out only to place it straight at the goalkeeper. Half-time: U’s 0, Newport 0. Sutton stormed the Newport goal early in the second period but just couldn’t convert any of their chances. Gray’s cross was touched on by Watkins five minutes after the interval but neither Corbett nor Tony Quinton could convert the chance as the ball passed through the six yard box. Watkins was causing the Newport defence a lot of problems and was unlucky not to win the U’s a penalty when he won the ball from a defender and made his way into the area – he eventually lost control of the ball as the defender clambered over him from behind. United’s young striker then went close again two minutes later when Nurse and Corbett opened up the defence but his shot from the right of the box flashed across goal and inches wide of the left upright. Sutton once again found it difficult to carve out clear cut opportunities and could well have lost the game had Wilson not made a great save with ten minutes remaining, standing up well to a one-on-one opportunity to get a firm hand to the striker’s shot. Full-time: U’s 0, Newport 0. F-t-L Facts:
Right, Craig Watkins takes the ball from a defender before he appears to be fouled in the area. |
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