SUTTON SUFFER FIRST HOME DEFEAT OF THE SEASON
BY ANDREW DELANEYSHARE
Sutton United 1st Team lost top spot in the table with their first defeat since August in a closely contested league meeting with Inkberrow.
The clock change had brought an earlier kick off and with it a change in the weather, as a cold wind blew across a damp and heavy pitch. The football, however, was far from dull and whilst there may not have been fireworks, the two teams played out an entertaining and competitive match.
The visitors have had some mixed results this season, but they were well organised and worked tremendously hard to close down Sutton, having the better of the opportunities in a tight encounter and fully deserved their dramatic late winner.
Inkberrow had a great chance to take the lead in the 12th minute when Jay Higgins-Pugsley hit the woodwork with a curling effort.
With Inkberrow creating the better of the early exchanges, Higgins-Pugsley did get his goal when he cleverly crafted himself some room in the box to fire in across Wagstaff from the left of goal.
Sutton responded immediately to pull level two minutes later when Joe Gildea beat the keeper from six yards after receiving Jonny Grigg’s pass inside the box.
A lovely flowing move from Sutton early in the second half saw Leyton Hines cross for Gildea to turn and shoot but his effort was deflected by a defender to make it an easy save for Max Court.
Sutton had been very strong at the back as they came under increasing pressure from the visitors, when they suffered a double blow, losing Kaine Donald to injury in the 61st minute, closely followed by a worrying dislocated shoulder for the experienced Chad Duggan and we wish them both a speedy recovery.
The change unsettled Sutton and they began to get frustrated, giving away unnecessary free kicks in dangerous areas and were eventually punished when Higgins-Pugsley delivered his free kick for the constantly dangerous number nine, Nathan Davies, to glance a header in at the near post in the 83rd minute.
United do not have to wait long for the chance to make amends, as they travel to Inkberrow next Saturday for the return fixture.
| Sutton United | Statistics | Inkberrow |
| 1 | Goals | 2 |
| 8 | Attempts | 12 |
| 4 | Attempts on Target | 9 |
| 1 | Corners | 3 |
| 12 | Fouls Committed | 10 |
| 3 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| Joe Delaney | Man of the Match |