Suttons four-midable second half
Andrew Delaney1 Sep – 20:36
Sutton United scored four goals in an impressive second half performance to come from behind and beat Cradley Town at Coleshill Road Stadium.
Cradley led at the break with a goal from Jordan Crump before Sutton’s captain Tom Massey equalised early in the second half. Another three goals followed in twenty blistering minutes for United, with Ronan Sheehan and Aaron Cameron coming off the bench to score and forward Hayden Froggatt completing the comeback with a composed finish.
After a tight opening quarter of an hour, Cradley took the lead when Jack Till cut inside from the left flank to deliver a right footed shot from the edge of the box that Connor Byrne saved, only for Crump to react first and slot home the rebound.
The visitors then saw efforts from Brad Ward and Joshua Marsden both saved by Byrne, and the tenacious winger Till, tried his luck once more from outside the box and this time it whizzed narrowly wide of the far post.
Sutton’s forwards worked hard without really getting any clearcut chances at goal this half. Joe Gildea had a low effort from the corner of the penalty box that Cradley keeper, Reece Francis, gathered at his near post, and later a twenty-yard free kick that he drilled low and wide of the post.
Sam Jeeves had a great chance when he profited from a sloppy clearance by the visitors, only to see his shot deflected wide by a Cradley defender.
The visitors almost scored within fifteen seconds of the restart, when Till charged down the left wing and into the box before his final shot, under the challenge of George Ray, was saved by Byrne. The tackle cost Ray, and he had to be replaced just two minutes into the half, with Abdul Touaiti stepping in.
United had already made two changes for the restart, with Sam Simmonds and Aaron Cameron coming in to facilitate a change in shape and it had an immediate impact. Sutton began to find spaces and in the 58th minute Massey ran onto a forward ball from Cameron, before rounding the keeper and tapping in at the corner of the net to give Sutton the lead.
Sutton’s substitutions were making an impression and Ronan Sheehan put United ahead in the 66th minute with a fine strike beyond Francis, after a perfect flick-on from Hayden Froggatt.
Cameron then scored his first goal for Sutton’s First Team in style, with a corner kick that he curled beautifully with his left foot straight into the back corner of the net.
United capped off a superb second half performance with a fourth goal in the 79th minute, when Sheehan used his pace down the right wing before crossing at the byline for Froggatt to turn and fire home past Francis with a clinical finish.
Jake Murrell, Matt Bishop and Tion Pearce were solid in a back three for Sutton and it wasn’t until the 83rd minute that Cradley’s substitute Jared Daniels came close when he hit the post after a swift break down their left flank.
Sutton end a busy August with four wins, four losses and one draw to sit midtable in the MFL 1 with thirteen points. And their hectic schedule continues with a trip to Gornal Athletic on Tuesday 3rd September 7.45pm kick off.
Team: Sutton United
1. Connor Byrne
2. George Ray – 48’ Abdul Touaiti
3. Jake Murrell
4. Matt Bishop
5. Tion Pearce
6. Kye Billingham-Belle – 45’ Sam Simmonds
7. Hayden Froggatt – 83’ Jack Whelan
8. Sam Jeeves – 61’ Ronan Sheehan
9. Joe Gildea
10. Tom Massey (c)
11. Sef Semlali – 45’ Aaron Cameron
Management/Assistants:
Richard Heath
Liam Burke
Adam Watson
Derek Culling
Team: Cradley Town
1. Reece Francis (c)
2. Declan Bibb
3. Daniel Meredith – 75’ Darren Whitley
4. Daniel Harvey – 75’ Jared Daniels
5. Lucas Muckley
6. Thomas Cole
7. Jack Till
8. Joe Fitzpatrick
9. Jordan Crump – 63’ Traevay Wright
10. Brad Ward
11. Joshua Marsden – 63’
Management/Assistants:
Stuart How
Andrew Thompson
Matt Clark
Ryan Pratt
James Caswell
Luke Messer
Match Officials: Admir Azizi, Stuart Betteridge, Ben Hayes
| Sutton United | Statistics | Cradley Town |
| 4 | Goals | 1 |
| 12 | Attempts | 10 |
| 10 | Attempts on Target | 4 |
| 46% | Possession | 54% |
| 4 | Corners | 6 |
| 14 | Fouls Committed | 4 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Opp MOTM |
| Joe Gildea | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Hayden Froggatt | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Ronan Sheehan | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| George Ray | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Whelan | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Sam Jeeves | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Aaron Cameron | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Tom Massey | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sef Semlali | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Abdul Touaiti | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kye Billingham-Belle | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Leyton Hines | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tion Pearce | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbie Brown | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jon Grigg | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Connor Byrne | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Bishop | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Hardy | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Louis Malin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Woodroofe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gabe Newey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jake Murrell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Simmonds | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aidan Jeynes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Busst | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Ward | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Binns | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 17 | 14 |