High five Sutton
Sutton United made it five wins in five as they came from behind to beat local rivals Smethwick Rangers in a tight match at Coleshill Road Stadium.
It was the first time this season that Sutton have had to come from behind, as Lewis Wall netted his second in two matches to cancel out Jack White’s opener for Smethwick, before Harry Howard scored a fantastic breakaway goal that secured all three points for the Green Army.
Sutton made four changes to the team that won on Wednesday, with Matt Bishop and Perry Cotton returning to the defence, and starts for Harry Howard and ex-Smethwick Rangers man Dylan Green. Sam Jeeves was handed the arm band for the home side. The visitors were also starting with two ex-Sutton players, Sam Simmonds and their captain Kye Billingham-Belle.
There was very little to separate the two sides in the opening half an hour. Rangers had the first effort on goal when Red Simmons tested Greg Lewis at his near post with a shot from six yards.
For Sutton, Ollie Burgundy and Aidan Mee combined well down the left channel, before Mee set up Sam Jeeves at the edge of the penalty area and his shot was deflected over, off the foot of Danny Wood.
The visitors took the lead in the 31st minute, with an individual piece of skill from Jack White, who cut through the heart of Sutton’s defence before slotting the ball into the bottom corner with a clinical finish.
Sutton responded with an equaliser just four minutes later off a Burgundy corner kick; Jeeves headed the ball back towards the post, and with a scramble on the goal line, Wall reacted first to slot home from close range.
Dylan Green came close to another for United shortly before the break, with a shot from the left of goal that skimmed over the cross bar, following a positive run out of defence by Burgundy.
Rangers had two good chances shortly after the restart: first a volley from White and then a Simmonds header, both landing in the safe hands of Lewis. Sutton’s number one then sent the Greens on the counterattack with a quick throw out to Burgundy, who then released Howard down the right to drive into the penalty area and execute a quality finish into the bottom corner, to give United the lead with his first goal of the season.
The home side should have put the game to bed, with Joe Gildea heading Howard’s cross just wide of the target and Harry Manton’s effort from the left of goal fizzing over the crossbar. Mee was having an excellent game for Sutton, caping off a celebratory week for his 18th birthday with a man-of-the-match performance and almost scoring with a long-range effort that was only a whisker wide of the post.
Instead, the visitors pushed forward creating a tense final fifteen minutes, although the home side defended strongly. Smethwick substitute Joe Bolton caused a scare when he dribbled his way into Sutton’s penalty area, but Bishop made the final challenge to deny him a clear shot at goal.
United had one more chance in front of goal when substitute Dan Wootten made an excellent interception in the middle of the pitch to then send Green off down the left wing, and his cross had Massey stretching to meet, with his effort flying over the target.
Then deep into added time Rangers made a break with a ball through the centre for Kurtis Amoh to run onto. Lewis was quick to sprint off his line and with both players challenging for the ball there was a clash of heads that resulted in them being taken to hospital, and we wish them both speedy recoveries from their injuries.
Next match for Sutton is a home fixture against newly promoted Knowle on Tuesday 19th August at Coleshill Road Stadium.
Team: Sutton United
1. Greg Lewis
2. Perry Cotton – 56’ Harry Manton
3. Aidan Mee
4. Matt Bishop
5. Tion Pearce
6. Lewis Wall
7. Ollie Burgundy – 73’ Dan Wootten
8. Sam Jeeves (c)
9. Joe Gildea – 68’ Hayden Froggatt
10. Harry Howard – 65’ Tom Massey
11. Dylan Green – 84’ Jon Grigg
Management/Assistants:
Richard Heath
Liam Burke
Jon Huckfield
Aidan Jeynes
Marcus Davies
Evija Stauga
Team: Smethwick Rangers
1. Josh Webb
2. Liam Wilson
3. Red Simmons
4. Nathan Allison
5. Sam Simmonds – 66’ Kurtis Amoh – 90+9’ Efe Unuarhenhen
6. Joel Newman
7. Danny Wood – 77’ Ronnie Holt
8. Jack White
9. Alfie Chatwin – 62’ Josh Whitehouse
10. Kye Billingham-Belle (c)
11. Callum Thorpe – 58’ Joe Bolton
Management/Assistants:
Francisco Francis
Sam Heath
Jon Allen
Ben Mortiboys
Anthony Okome
Match Officials: Henry Gregory, Robert Blagden, Connor Brooks
| Sutton United | Statistics | Smethwick Rangers |
| 2 | Goals | 1 |
| 10 | Attempts | 5 |
| 3 | Attempts on Target | 4 |
| 58% | Possession | 42% |
| 4 | Corners | 2 |
| 12 | Fouls Committed | 10 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| Opp Man of the Match | Joel Newman | |
| Aidan Mee | Club Man of the Match |