It was some way from the fluent performance that swept St Albans away a week earlier, but Sutton made it through to the third round of the FA Trophy on Saturday with a battling effort that had enough to withstand a late flurry of pressure from a Curzon Ashton side who always looked as though they might equalise the goal with which Jamie Collins embellished an outstanding defensive performance midway through the first half, but whose distribution in the final third let down their most promising attacks.
It was a scrappy game in which both sides tended to give the ball away too often, and goal chances were at a premium after an early Sutton spell of pressure had yielded a couple of corners. A deflected shot over the top from centre back Daniel Shaw was the visitors' only moment of early threat, but they had looked under little threat from the Sutton attack until Craig Eastmond chipped a free kick from inside the centre circle in to the penalty area, and the ball dropped for Collins to crash a low shot past Hakan Burton from about ten yards.
For much of the rest of the half U's seemed largely in control, apart from one wayward clearance from Kevin Amankwaah which almost allowed Matthew Warburton a chance before Bedsente Gomis stepped in with a challenge which drew a none too convincing penalty appeal and no reaction from referee Rob Whitton, whose one seriously contentious moment of the afternoon came soon afterwards as Shaw impeded Dan Fitchett as he tried to move on to a through ball. Had Fitchett been certain to reach it the card would have been red, but after a consultation with assistant Gary Jerden the referee decided on yellow, reflecting the fact that Burton might well have got there before the Sutton striker.
Warburton finished the half with a wayward shot from outside the penalty area, but went a lot closer early in the second half when he drove a shot from the corner of the area just wide of the far post. On more than one occasion the visitors broke through when Sutton seemed to have initially cut out the danger, and one such incident ended with Dean Beckwith being booked for a foul, although only after the referee had played an advantage and Connor Hampson's cross was dealt with by Worner.
Sutton's biggest scare came soon afterwards when what looked like a mis-hit free kick from Chris Rowney ran all the way through to Jonathan Hunt, whose shot found the far corner of the net only for Warburton, who was in the six yard box, to be flagged offside. It wasn't clear whether Warburton had touched the ball on the way in but he was adjudged to have been close enough to Worner to be having an influence. The one chance for Sutton to put some daylight between the sides fell to Craig Dundas, who found space from a right wing cross but directed his downward header straight at Burton.
The closer U's got to the finishing line the more tense it became, but with Collins marshalling a fine defensive performance, including one outstanding headed clearance under pressure from two opponents, U's held firm even when Michael Norton was sent on to boost the visitors' front line, and on the one occasion that the defence was breached, the persistent Warburton's low shot was well saved low to his right by Worner to confirm U's place in the third round.
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