Spillane 48, Kirkwood 4, Luer 74, Perry 87
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
Lineup 1 Alan Julian; 2 Kevin Amankwaah; 3 Callum Hart; 4 Michael Spillane; 5 Matt Lockwood; 6 Charlie Clough; 7 Ricky Wellard;81 Haysman; 8 Glen Southam; 81 Evans; 9 Craig Dundas; 10 Nick Bignall; H-T Gomis; 11 Dale Binns; 12 Jack Evans;
14 Jessy Reindorf; 15 Bedsente Gomis; 16 Kane Haysman; 17 Jamie Lawrence; 18 Tom Lovelock.
Sutton found themselves on the receiving end of the major shock in Saturday's FA Cup fixtures as Burgess Hill continued their remarkable start to the season with a 13th consecutive league and cup win and a place in the 4th qualifying round for only the second time in their history. With the Sussex side having swept all before them since knocking Eastbourne Town out at the preliminary round stage, and with Sutton's recent form having been uncertain it was always likely that the gap between the sides would be a lot closer than league status suggested, and certainly in the first half it would have been hard to tell who was the higher-ranked side after Burgess Hill had taken an early lead and almost added to it on several occasions. After the break, though, with Charlie Clough played as a central striker, Burgess Hill found it hard to get out of their own half for long spells and with Michael Spillane having quickly equalised Sutton seemed the far likelier winners, but a needlessly conceded free kick gave the dangerous Greg Luer the chance to put the visitors back in front against the run of play and U's lacked the confidence to come back a second time.
U's were dealt a blow in the lead-up to the game when Jessy Reindorf suffered an injury in training, meaning a first start for Nick Bignall, but the former Reading striker struggled to make an impact and was withdrawn at half time as U's manager Paul Doswell opted for the greater physical presence of Clough. Their confidence already high, Burgess Hill made the ideal start as a misplaced pass from Callum Hart allowed Luer to launch an attack down the right. Clough cut out his low cross, but Luer was quicker to react to the loose ball than Hart, cut in to the penalty area and thumped in a shot which Alan Julian parried straight on to the head of the diving Scott Kirkwood, the ball looping back in to the net as U's looked hopefully for an offside flag.
Despite having a fair amount of possession Sutton found it difficult to make any impression on a well-organised defence, one superb headed clearance denying Spillane a close range headed chance, and it was Burgess Hill whose attacks carried greater threat. Joe Keehan saw a low shot saved by Julian before a fine clearing header by Clough prevented Keehan heading in a Neil Watts free kick. Luer shot just wide after again cutting in from the right, and Rob O'Toole almost scored a bizarre goal when Clough's clearance rebounded off him towards goal and Julian had to make a good save.
For the next twenty minutes it was all Sutton and it seemed only a matter of time before they scored again as they consistently won back possession and kept the visitors pinned deep inside their own half, with Clough proving a real handful. One knock down gave Wellard the chance to shoot low and just wide from twenty yards, before what may have been the crucial moment as a spell of concerted pressure ended with Dale Binns playing the ball in to Clough on the left edge of the penalty area, and he turned inside to hit a low shot which seemed bound for the bottom corner until Josh James got down to make an outstanding save. Spillane shot just over from the edge of the penalty area after Clough had again won an aerial challenge, but then with sixteen minutes left Burgess Hill were able to launch a rare attack on the right. The resulting low cross was blocked, but rather than hack the ball clear Hart attempted to play it out of trouble, and as Graham Martin tried to intercept on the edge of the area he was fouled by Spillane. Luer curled the free-kick just inside Julian's left-hand post, and the keeper was unable to get across in time to keep it out.
Sutton's efforts to reply for a second time lacked any shape, despite the introduction of Kane Haysman and Jack Evans, whose first contribution was a free kick that went just over the bar. With three minutes to go Matt Lockwood's corner was headed clear,and with Sutton caught forward Luer was able to counter on the left. A one-two took him clear with just Julian to beat, but he unselfishly squared a pass to substitute Dann Perry, who took his time before firing home and ending Sutton's hopes of a fifth first round appearance in seven years.
Burgess Hill: J James, N Watts, S Fisk, G Martin(sub C Breach 85), A Pearson, T Pointing, S Kirkwood, J Keehan, P Harding (sub D Perry 74), G Luer, R O'Toole(sub L Harding 61). Subs n/u D Budd, W Miles, S Slaughter, M Morrish. Booked: Pearson (61-foul).
Referee
Ian Fissenden (Gillingham)
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