DEADLY DUGGAN AT THE DOUBLE
BY ANDREW DELANEYSHARE
Chad Duggan’s dramatic injury-time winner gave Sutton all three points in thrilling top-of-the-table clash against Kenilworth Sporting.
It was a hard-fought victory for Sutton as they twice came from behind with goals from Joe Delaney and a brace by defender Chad Duggan, his first goals since returning to the club in 2019.
The game was predictably tight in the opening half an hour. Kenilworth had the first real opportunity in the 12th minute with a header at the back post from a set piece. For Sutton, some slick passing had Tom Massey in on goal before he was stopped with a well-timed challenge by Sporting captain Charlie McConnachie.
United had a great chance to take the lead in the 26th minute when a free kick from near the corner flag found Joe Gildea, who blasted over the bar from two yards.
The visitors then began to get the upper hand as they dominated the final twenty minutes of the first half, and it wasn’t surprising when they took the lead in the 39th minute, as Will Hawkins delivered from the byline for striker Chris Jones to find the net with a superb header.
Sutton changed formation for the restart with Jonny Grigg and Matty Lewis coming on, closely followed by Shane Smith. The next goal was always going to be hugely important, and it went Sutton’s way when Smith played a positive ball forward and Sporting stumbled with two defenders miskicking their clearances before keeper, George Woodward, tipped a difficult ball onto his cross bar, with Delaney lurking to slot in the rebound from close range.
The game was finely balanced when a shot from Kenilworth substitute Dave Obeng had Reiss Wagstaff diving for a fantastic tip behind off his crossbar.
Then an attack from Sporting saw them awarded a penalty and Jones stepped up to smash in his second goal of the match, regaining the lead for the visitors with only ten minutes remaining.
Sutton showed great spirit to keep fighting and pulled level once more just three minutes later, when Sef Semlali flicked on a corner for Chad Duggan to head in at the back post.
This led to a tense final ten minutes as neither team felt that they deserved to lose this match. Yet more drama was to follow as the game entered added time and the home side won another corner kick. Sutton sensed victory with their excellent success on set pieces this season, and sure enough, Delaney’s delivery to the back post had Chad Duggan heading in a wonderful winner.
Sutton now hit the road for three consecutive away games, the first at Barnt Green Spartak on Saturday 8th October.
| Sutton United | Statistics | Kenilworth Sporting |
| 3 | Goals | 2 |
| 13 | Attempts | 11 |
| 8 | Attempts on Target | 4 |
| 6 | Corners | 2 |
| 8 | Fouls Committed | 11 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |