HIGH FIVE THE NEW YEAR
BY ANDREW DELANEY
Sutton United began the new year in style scoring five goals whilst keeping a clean sheet away to Coventry Alvis.
An all-round impressive team performance saw Sutton United put five past Coventry Alvis, with a brace each for strikers Leyton Hines and Joe Gildea, before Alvis conceded an own goal from Sef Semlali’s corner kick.
It took only seven minutes for Sutton to open the scoring, as Gildea seized onto a misplaced goal kick from Alfie Pyott, to unleash a shot from the left of goal which Pyott then initially saved, only for Hines to tuck away the rebound.
The two strikers combined again for Sutton’s second, this time Hines delivering the pass for Gildea to find the net with a composed finish from eight yards.
The Tankmen caused little trouble for Reiss Wagstaff in Sutton’s goal, with their best chances in the first half falling to Finlay Noel and Tyrike Richards-Burke, who both fired wide of the target.
Sutton were looking comfortable at two goals to the good. Pete Bannister was causing problems for the home side down the right wing and saw his best shot saved by Pyott in the 15th minute.
Sutton made it three before the break when playmaker Joe Delaney delivered his 20th assist of the season, threading the perfect ball for Gildea to unleash a terrific shot from the edge of the penalty box.
Within sixteen seconds of the second half Sutton had the ball in the back of the net once more, only for Gildea to be flagged offside. But it wasn’t long before the fourth goal came, and the excellent Gildea was involved once more, picking out Hines who executed a composed finish for his second of the match.
Sutton remained solid in defence and prevented very little getting through to trouble Wagstaff. Coventry’s captain Richards-Burke looked their likeliest player to score, and he did come very close when he hit the woodwork in the 53rd minute.
Sutton were missing their captain Josh Duggan for the first time this season and Kaine Donald stepped into the midfield role with a solid performance before making way for James Taylor in the 60th minute. Cormac Parize, Jonny Grigg and Andy Matthews added more fresh legs for Sutton, with defender Parize making a welcome return from an injury sustained in the opening game of the season.
United kept up the pressure and a fifth goal came in the 65th minute, when Semlali’s corner kick to the back post was knocked into the net by an Alvis player under the challenge of Taylor.
Coventry finished well, with efforts from Riley Keasey and Dillon Lee, but Sutton had the game under control. The win puts them seven points clear at the top of MFL 2 whilst Coventry Alvis will be hoping to capitalise on their games in hand to pull clear of the relegation zone.
Sutton are back in action this Saturday with a trip to Gornal Colts for a cup fixture, kick off 2pm.
| Coventry Alvis | Statistics | Sutton United |
| 0 | Goals | 5 |
| 9 | Attempts | 12 |
| 2 | Attempts on Target | 9 |
| 1 | Corners | 7 |
| 5 | Fouls Committed | 5 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| Tyrike Richards-Burke | Man of the Match | Joe Gildea |