LATE GOAL RUSH TO BEAT INKBERROW
BY ANDREW DELANEYSHARE
A second half hat-trick from Joe Delaney helped Sutton United 1st Team climb back to the top of the MFL2 with a hard-earned victory at Inkberrow.
The score line doesn’t reflect how close this game was, with Sutton carrying a narrow 2-1 lead until the final ten minutes of the match, when some fantastic all-round performances spurred them onto an impressive victory.
United’s injury crisis had resulted in four changes to the starting line-up that had narrowly lost at home to Inkberrow last Saturday. A completely new back-line were exceptional as they were tested from the off. Both James Taylor and Matt Hurrell made some timely interceptions at the heart of the defence and full backs Jake Murrell and Lewis James delivered solid performances.
Inkberrow applied all the early pressure, and it was against the run of play when Sutton took the lead in the 33rd minute. James delivered a long throw into the penalty box where Jonny Grigg rose highest to head the ball on, and James Taylor was in the mix to get a touch on before Tom Massey volleyed in from six yards for his sixth goal of the season.
Inkberrow pulled level just two minutes into the second half when George Robbins curled a 20-yard free kick around the wall and into the bottom corner of Sutton’s net.
The home side should have taken the lead soon after, when Nathan Davies was through one-on-one with the keeper and Reiss Wagstaff did just enough to force the striker’s shot wide of the post.
The match could have gone either way at this point, but it was Sutton who retook the lead in the 67th minute with a well-crafted goal. Hines shrugged off two challenges on the left to find Gildea on the edge of the box, a quick lay off for Grigg and another to Delaney on the right, for his shot to clip a defender and sail in over the keeper.
After such a closely contested game, the turning point came in the 81st minute when substitute Matt Bishop headed in from a corner to give him a goal ten minutes into his 1st Team debut and give United a two-goal cushion going into the final ten minutes of the match.
With the home side now committing numbers forward, Sutton caught them out at the back when Gildea sent the ball into the path of Delaney to run into the box and beat Max Court with a composed finish that takes his season tally into double figures.
Sutton pressed their advantage and as the game reached the 90th minute, Murrell’s long ball over the top fell nicely for Gildea to unselfishly set up Delaney to slot in from close range and complete his hat-trick.
There was still time for Gildea to get himself on the scoresheet when a mistake from the Inkberrow keeper allowed the striker to net his seventeenth goal of the season.
Now deep into added time, the home side reduced the deficit when George Thomas delivered a corner kick that snook into the net at the near post.
Sutton take another break from league action next Saturday when they entertain Balsall and Berkswell in the County Cup.
| Inkberrow | Statistics | Sutton United |
| 2 | Goals | 6 |
| 14 | Attempts | 18 |
| 10 | Attempts on Target | 13 |
| 8 | Corners | 3 |
| 6 | Fouls Committed | 10 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| George Robbins | Man of the Match | Tom Massey |