Back-to-back wins for Sutton
Sutton United made it two wins on the bounce as they beat Lutterworth Athletic 3-1 at Coleshill Road in the MFL 1.
Goals from Hayden Froggatt, Harry Howard and Sam Jeeves had Sutton cruising to victory, before a late goal from Lutterworth substitute Luke Garner and an injury-time sending off for keeper Greg Lewis, added some late drama.
The first half was closely contested, with Sutton having the first chance at goal when Sam Jeeves floated a free kick from close to the corner flag that Lutterworth keeper Jack Hitchman had to get a hand to.
Both Zach Binns and Jonny Grigg worked hard on the flanks and they each saw an effort from outside the penalty box gathered comfortably by Hitchman.
The visitors came close to taking the lead on the half hour mark, when Ethan Richardson’s thumping effort from 25 yards had Lewis diving to tip over his crossbar. And the resultant corner kick was then headed narrowly wide of the far post by Callum Pinto.
The breakthrough fell to Sutton in the 42nd minute, when Howard swept the ball across from the right for Froggatt to collect on the edge of the box and his superb one touch and volley gave Hitchman no chance.
United were looking more dangerous in the second half and they doubled their lead in the 62nd minute. It began with a superb challenge by Binns to win the ball off Jack Burns at the halfway line. Tom Massey then picked it up and fed Oli Jeeves, whose shot was saved by Hitchman. The Lutterworth keeper made another save to deny Massey with the rebound, before the Sutton captain picked out Harry Howard with space in the box to calmly net his first goal for the club.
Hitchman made another two strong saves at his near post to deny Binns and Froggatt. However, the Lutterworth keeper could do nothing about Sutton’s third goal, as Scott Hardy’s short corner to Sam Jeeves was fantastically curled into the top far corner by the midfielder.
Lutterworth pulled a goal back late on, when Lewis was caught in possession on the edge his six-yard box, allowing substitute Luke Garner to score with a simple finish, within a minute of coming on.
The Sutton keeper then let his frustrations get the better of him, receiving his marching orders for an altercation with Athletic captain Joshua Thompson and Joe Gildea stepped into the sticks for the last two minutes of added time.
Next Saturday sees Sutton in cup action as they take on MFL Premier side, AFC Wulfrunians, away in the first round of FA Vase.
Team: Sutton United
1. Greg Lewis
2. Jon Grigg
3. Zach Binns
4. Matt Bishop
5. Tion Pearce
6. Sam Jeeves
7. Tom Massey (c)
8. Scott Hardy – 78’ Abdul Touaiti
9. Oli Jeeves – 77’ Joe Gildea
10. Harry Howard – 78’ Leyton Hines
11. Hayden Froggatt – 84’ Sam Simmonds
Sub Unused: Sef Semlali
Management/Assistants:
Richard Heath
Liam Burke
Chris Bratt-Rose
Bobby Brittan
Derek Culling
Amelia Small
Team: Lutterworth Athletic
1. Jack Hitchman
2. Connor Wilkinson – 75’ Alexandre Olen
3. Sebastian Sam
4. Callum Pinto
5. Mike Okereke
6. Joshua Thompson (c)
7. Tom Stockley – 75’ Vinny Glaznieks
8. Rahulji Odedra- 85’ Luke Garner
9. Jack Burns – 65’ Luke Merrall
10. Luke Curtlin
11. Ethan Richardson
Sub Unused: Jenson Corbett
Management/Assistants:
Ben Steane
Scott Smith
George Jones
Craig Jones
Devlin Feeley
Matty Yates
Match Officials: Sam Rowley, Paul Gordon, Kevin Carroll