BY ANDREW DELANEY
Sutton came away from Cadbury with a hard-earned point in a riveting top-of-the-table clash.
The only MFL 2 game to survive the weather, this top verse second clash drew a healthy crowd to the historic Cadbury Recreation Ground in Bournville. And the game did not disappoint with Sutton twice taking the lead only for Cadbury to draw level, and whilst United may feel disappointed not to have held onto the win, it was a good point away from home against strong opposition.
Cadbury are the MFL 2 defending champions, but without the facilities to move up they remain in the Division. In the first meeting of the season between these two, it was Sutton who drew first blood in the 8th minute with a penalty for handball from Tom Massey’s strike. Skipper Josh Duggan dispatched the spot kick with precision to give the division two leaders the edge.
The Chocolate Men began to exert some pressure as Sutton had to defend several set pieces. Although the equaliser, when it came in the 26th minute, was from open play, albeit rather fortuitous. Sutton’s keeper, Reiss Wagstaff, made a superb save to deny Deon Colstock, only for the ball to rebound off Colstock straight into the back of the Sutton goal.
But it wasn’t long before Sutton regained the lead, when Sef Semlali produced a stunning shot that curled into the top corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
However, it was the hosts who finished the half strongly with Sutton defending exceptionally well. Semlali received a sin bin in the last minute of the half that would leave Sutton with ten men for the opening nine minutes of the second half.
Once Sutton were back to eleven men, they made a change in formation that saw them improve and they began to create more of a threat going forward, although they never quite found that final ball to trouble the Cadbury keeper.
United worked incredibly hard to defend their lead but couldn’t keep out the equaliser in the 80th minute, when Owain Taylor swept his cross into the box for Ethan Hanks to finish at the back post.
On a very heavy pitch, it was Cadbury who came closest to a winner in the final minutes as chances fell to Thomas Craine, who shot wide of the upright, and Adam Bourne, who attempted an overhead kick that was cleared in front of goal by the excellent Kaine Donald.
Sutton return home next Saturday for the league fixture against Redditch Borough with a 3pm kick off.
| Cadbury Athletic | Statistics | Sutton United |
| 2 | Goals | 2 |
| 10 | Attempts | 6 |
| 5 | Attempts on Target | 4 |
| 52% | Possession | 48% |
| 10 | Corners | 1 |
| 11 | Fouls Committed | 8 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| Man of the Match | Josh Duggan |