Froggatt’s first half winner

Andrew Delaney4 Sep – 19:09

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Hayden Froggatt’s first half strike was enough for Sutton United to snatch victory at Gornal Athletic in their MFL 1 midweek fixture.

In a game of few chances, it was a moment of magic from Sutton that led to the only goal of the match.

It came in the 18th minute, courtesy of a perfectly weighted cross-field pass by Matt Bishop for Joe Gildea on the right. The forward did well to beat his marker and square the ball across the face of goal, where Froggatt side footed into the net from close range, for his fourth goal of the season.

With both teams having had similar starts to the season, this midtable clash turned out to be a tight encounter, with very little created to trouble either keeper.

Matt Bishop headed wide for Sutton from Abdul Touaiti’s free kick and later in the half, Tom Massey’s shot at the edge of the box was blocked by two Gornal defenders.

And for the hosts, there was a corner kick that peppered about at the back post before Sutton scrambled the ball away, and in the 35th minute a great chance fell to Bradley Welding who ran in behind Sutton’s defence, only for a heavy touch in the box that allowed Connor Byrne to sweep clear.

It was much the same for the second half; both teams worked hard but never created much in front of goal.

Gornal saw their best opportunities come from set pieces or long throw-ins into the penalty box, and it was Welding who came closest again, with a shot from eighteen yards that spun just wide of the post.
Sam Simmonds controlled a strong midfield display from Sutton, and as Gornal began to press higher in search of an equaliser, United’s defence remained well organised.

But with only one goal to separate the two teams, tensions began to rise as the time ticked down. There was some controversy as the match went into added time and the referee booked Sutton’s Kye Billingham-Belle for time wasting, not realising until much later that it was his second yellow, leading to confusion when the midfielder had already been subbed off. He eventually received his red card and Sutton finished the match with ten men.

Sutton’s keeper had picked up a knock midway through the second half but battled through as United held on to claim their fourth clean sheet of the season and a valuable three points away from home.

Next up for Sutton is a trip to Saffron Dynamo on Saturday 7th September 3pm kick off.

Team: Gornal Athletic
1. Harry Sulley
2. Will Rawlings
3. Nathan Guest
4. Joe Burroughs
5. Josh Godwin
6. Max Morris – 81’ Jay Rossiter
7. Bradley Welding
8. Luke Carter (c)
9. Luke Sidaway – 74’ Owen Waterfield
10. Ben Worthington
11. Darragh Bustin

Management/Assistants:
Dave King
Jamie Oliver
Steve Fellows
Wayne Shakespeare
Jake Tyler-Skinner
Ellie Higginson

Team: Sutton United
1. Connor Byrne
2. Jake Murrell
3. Aaron Cameron – 91’ Jack Whelan
4. Matt Bishop
5. Tion Pearce
6. Sam Simmonds
7. Abdul Touaiti
8. Sam Jeeves – 56’ Kye Billingham Belle
9. Joe Gildea
10. Tom Massey (c)
11. Hayden Froggatt – 70’ Ronan Sheehan

Management/Assistants:
Richard Heath
Liam Burke
Adam Watson
Bobby Brittan
Derek Culling

Match Officials: Thomas Johnson, Jon Coss, Ewan Bates

Gornal Athletic	Statistics	Sutton United
0	Goals	1
5	Attempts	4
2	Attempts on Target	2
65%	Possession	35%
3	Corners	2
12	Fouls Committed	16
1	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	1
	Opp Man of the Match	Connor Byrne

Player	Appearances	Goals	Assists	Opp MOTM
Hayden Froggatt	10	4	3	0
Joe Gildea	9	4	3	1
Ronan Sheehan	7	2	3	1
George Ray	9	2	1	0
Jack Whelan	8	2	0	2
Sam Jeeves	9	1	1	1
Aaron Cameron	5	1	1	0
Tom Massey	10	1	0	0
Sef Semlali	6	1	0	0
Abdul Touaiti	10	0	1	1
Kye Billingham-Belle	10	0	1	0
Leyton Hines	5	0	1	1
Tion Pearce	10	0	0	0
Robbie Brown	8	0	0	0
Jon Grigg	7	0	0	0
Connor Byrne	6	0	0	1
Matt Bishop	6	0	0	1
Scott Hardy	5	0	0	1
Jake Murrell	3	0	0	0
Louis Malin	3	0	0	0
Sam Simmonds	3	0	0	0
Charlie Woodroofe	2	0	0	0
Gabe Newey	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		18	15