Narrow defeat at Griff
Two goals from Hayden Froggatt were not enough for Sutton as they fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat away at Nuneaton Griff.
Sutton made three changes from their win on Saturday with starts for Froggatt and Oli Jeeves, and a call up for Under 21’s goalkeeper Gabe Newey. Charlie Busst and Ryan Delport also came into the squad.
Sutton took the lead in the 10th minute when Harry Manton won a strong header in the middle of the pitch to send Jeeves on his way into the penalty box. Pushed wide by his defender, Jeeves found Froggatt who took one touch with his right foot before striking with his left. The final touch into the net came off Nuneaton’s James Bryson, but with the ball already heading in, Sutton’s striker claimed his fifteenth goal of the season.
Nuneaton responded with two quick goals, the first from a free kick at the half-way line that was swung into the penalty area where Bryson won the header at the back post to equalise for the hosts.
Just two minutes later Griff took the lead when Dan Edmonds squared the ball across the face of goal for Jacob Dumbleton to slot in at the back post.
Sutton were level three minutes later, when Tom Massey’s cross-field ball to Froggatt was initially gathered by Divin Emmanuel, only for the Nuneaton goalkeeper to lose his grasp on the ball, giving the Sutton striker one of his easiest goals of the season for his second of the match.
There were more chances for both sides in a frenetic first half, as Dumbleton missed two golden opportunities to score again for Nuneaton, both times striking the woodwork from close range, and Rueben Wade was denied a goal with an excellent stop from Newey.
For Sutton, Jeeves thundered an effort over the crossbar after he found himself through on goal, and Froggatt came close again with an effort that scooped over the crossbar, after some good work from Abdul Touaiti.
Nuneaton came out strong in the second half, winning a lot of the physical battles, and it wasn’t long before Newey had to make a great reaction save to deny Dumbleton from close range.
Their winning goal came in the 62nd minute when a long ball found its way through Sutton’s back line and Edmonds picked it up to round the keeper and finish with precision.
There was another scare for United in the 69th minute but they defended excellently, as Touaiti had to take control to clear a dangerous ball off the goal line, before Newey parried an 18-yard effort from Kyle Whitley, and then Tion Pearce reacted brilliantly to take the sting out of the rebound from Charlie Morgan.
Going forward, Jeeves struck the woodwork for United following a break down the left and Leyton Hines came close with a volley at the edge of the penalty area that skimmed narrowly wide of the post.
A win would have moved Sutton up to eighth in the table, but they remain in tenth with a tough trip to third placed Leicester St Andrews on Saturday 5th April, 3pm kick off.
Team: Nuneaton Griff
1. Divin Emmanuel
2. Luke Campion – 65’ Steve Pywell
3. Rueben Wade
4. Tom Hall (c)
5. Lewis Campbell – 54’ Charlie Morgan
6. James Bryson
7. Matt Chadaway – 74’ Hamed Alamin
18. Reece Williams
9. Dan Edmonds – 81’ Ahmed Salum
10. Kyle Whitley
11. Jacob Dumbleton – 78’ Owen Wassall
Management/Assistants:
Aaron Cheshire
Corey Williams
Paul Barker
Josh Thompson
Team: Sutton United
1. Gabe Newey
2. Abdul Touaiti – 73’ Ryan Delport
3. Harry Manton – 80’ Sef Semlali
4. Matt Bishop
5. Tion Pearce
6. Sam Simmonds – 66’ Charlie Busst
7. Hayden Froggatt
8. Jonny Grigg – 49’ Joe Gildea
9. Oli Jeeves
10. Tom Massey
11. Leyton Hines
Management/Assistants:
Richard Heath
Liam Burke
Adam Watson
Bobby Brittan
Derek Culling
Match Officials: Nathan Parry, Ashley Bonner, Paul Weston