Nine men Sutton in narrow defeat
Andrew Delaney15 Sep – 19:33
A goal at the end of each half gave league leaders Smethwick Rangers the win over 9-men Sutton United at Coleshill Road Stadium.
This was a closely contested match with a single goal of individual quality from Daniel Gyasi that separated the two teams at half time. The game changed when United had Sam Simmonds dismissed in the second half and then they were reduced to nine men when Jack Whelan was stretchered off and they had no more substitutes to replace him.
Sutton never gave up and pushed to the end to get something out of the game, but Smethwick capitalised on their numbers with another goal deep into added time to cement their win.
Strikers Joe Gildea and Hayden Froggatt were back in the starting line-up for Sutton, with Sam Simmonds playing at centre back in the absence of Matt Bishop. There was an early change for Sutton when Ben Friel was forced off with an injury, being replaced by Kye Billingham-Belle.
It was an entertaining first half with chances created for both sides to score. Smethwick were happy to sit back and let their hosts have the ball and hit Sutton on the break.
Rangers had chances fall to Gyasi who drove into the penalty area before shooting into the side netting, and Kamil Soleki grazed the outside of the post with a header, before later striking marginally wide of target.
A good move from Sutton saw Gildea set up Tom Massey at the edge of the box and his effort whizzed narrowly wide of the far post. And in the 39th minute, Scott Hardy wriggled through two defenders in the penalty box before his final shot skimmed inches from the target.
Tion Pearce made two crucial challenges in his own penalty box to deny the visitors, however, Rangers managed to take the lead in the 41st minute with an individual piece of skill from Gyasi to find the bottom corner of the net.
United looked bright at the start of the second half but never really troubled the keeper and Smethwick managed a couple of shots from distance that were comfortable for Connor Byrne.
The second half was defined by the red card for Simmonds for headbutting Efe Unuarhemhen and the ankle ligament injury to Whelan ten minutes from time.
Despite being down to nine men Sutton still looked for an equaliser, but Rangers had the numbers to attack when they were in possession and when Sam Price was free six yards from goal, Jonny Grigg made a fantastic block to deny the forward scoring against his former club.
Nevertheless, the visitors found a second goal deep into added time, with a swift break that was clinically finished by Red Simmons.
Suttons next match is on Tuesday 17th September with a trip to Coventry Copsewood who sit one place ahead of them in the table, on the same points.
Team: Sutton United
1. Connor Byrne
2. Jake Murrell – 51’ Abdul Touaiti
3. Ben Friel – 13’ Kye Billingham-Belle
4. Sam Simmonds
5. Tion Pearce
6. Robbie Brown – 46’ Ronan Sheehan
7. Jon Grigg
8. Scott Hardy
9. Joe Gildea – 68’ Jack Whelan
10. Tom Massey (c)
11. Hayden Froggatt – 72’ Sef Semlali
Management/Assistants:
Richard Heath
Liam Burke
Adam Watson
Bobby Brittan
Team: Smethwick Rangers
1. Andreas Spanou
2. Red Simmons
3. Kaje Wilkes
4. Efe Unuarhemhen
5. Pierre Phillips
6. Jake Lamb
7. Danny Wood – 89’ Chukwuxavier Nwobani-Akano
8. Jake Allen (c)
9. Kamil Solecki – 78’ Jamie Biddle
10. Daniel Gyasi – 85’ Lucas Edwards
11. Dylan Green – 70’ Sam Price
Management/Assistants:
Francisco Francis
Sam Heath
Match Officials: Alex Shaw, Kevin Carroll, Stuart Betteridge
| Sutton United | Statistics | Smethwick Rangers |
| 0 | Goals | 2 |
| 9 | Attempts | 15 |
| 4 | Attempts on Target | 5 |
| 60% | Possession | 40% |
| 1 | Corners | 4 |
| 8 | Fouls Committed | 6 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 1 | Red Cards | 0 |
| Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Opp MOTM |
| Joe Gildea | 12 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Hayden Froggatt | 13 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Tom Massey | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Ronan Sheehan | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| George Ray | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Whelan | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Jon Grigg | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sam Jeeves | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Aaron Cameron | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sef Semlali | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Abdul Touaiti | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kye Billingham-Belle | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Leyton Hines | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tion Pearce | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbie Brown | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Connor Byrne | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Bishop | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Scott Hardy | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jake Murrell | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Simmonds | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louis Malin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Friel | 2 | 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 | 22 | 19 |