It wasn’t until the 86th minute that Ross Stearn slid home the second goal that guaranteed Sutton United would return home with all three points but it was no more than they deserved, in fact the biggest mystery of the day was how it took so long to put the game out of reach.
The U’s settled into a pattern right from the start and completely dominated the first half, although the familiar story of failing to turn possession and pressure into goals hung over them like one of the grey rain clouds that filled the sky. Eastmond was controlling the midfield and the width provided by Tom Bolarinwa and Stuart Fleetwood, supported by Dan Wishart and Simon Downer playing at times like extra wingers, allowed the U’s to play on the front foot the whole half. Fleetwood in particular was causing panic whenever he got the ball and it was he who came closest to opening the scoring when he cut in from the left and tried to chip Tom Lovelock in the home goal only for the ball to land on top of the net.
With 18 minutes on the clock Jamie Collins won a good header despite Buchanan backing into him and Dundas swept the ball wide to Fleetwood. A bit of pace and a couple of jinks saw the forward into the box and create enough space for a powerful shot but he was to be denied his first goal of the season by a combination of bar and post, only for Dundas to react quickest to the rebound and turn the ball home.
U’s kept pressing but found chances hard to come by, until a long-throw from Downer fell for Dundas and his volley looked goal bound until it struck a defender on the back and flew over the bar. From the corner Craig McAllister got a good run at the ball but headed wide. Home winger Ferrier then showed the Sutton defence a clean pair of heels down the left, beating two men with ease, but his shot was blocked for a corner.
As the half drew to a close the U’s pushed for the extra goals that their command had merited and after a spell of heavy pressure Eastmond created room for himself only to be closed down as he tried to shoot, the ball spinning away to Fleetwood but Lovelock was quickly off his line to smother the danger. A deep free-kick was then laid back into the path of Dundas but, once again, his shot was blocked.
Stearn replaced Bolarinwa at half-time and the home side were a little livelier after the break but found the U’s defence in a mean mood. Gradually the U’s re-asserted their dominance, although their passing wasn’t as crisp as before the interval. Eastmond robbed his man in the middle of the park and put McAllister free on the right but his low cross-shot was well wide of the far post. Dundas then flicked on a free-kick for Dean Beckwith but Lovelock made a good save from the centre-half’s volley. Lovelock and his defence then got into bit of a mess after being put under pressure and Stearn latched onto the mishit clearance but, in a good position, blasted wildly over the bar.
With 85 minutes on the clock Ross Worner was finally called into action, making a top notch save to his right to keep out a curling 20-yarder and the resulting corner was headed over the bar. Worner’s goalkick went through to Lovelock, whose punt downfield was headed back by Downer, McAllister turned the ball wide to Tommy Wright, who had replaced Fleetwood two minutes previously, and the young striker made ground before laying an inviting pass into the path of Stearn, who wrong-footed Lovelock with a calm finish.
Rowe then shot into the side-netting after a good run and Lovelock made a comfortable save from Stearn’s 25-yard drive but by then the game was well into added time and the U’s had made sure of all three points, much to the delight of the sizeable and vocal contingent of travelling fans.
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