Nine-men Sutton rescue point
Andrew Delaney17 Dec 2023 –
Sutton came from behind to earn a hard-fought draw as they finished the match with nine men against Wednesfield at Coleshill Road.
Both teams came into this match level on points in MFL1, though Wednesfield have three games in hand over Sutton. United made two changes from their win against Chelmsley Town last weekend, with Lewis James and Sef Semlali coming into the starting line-up.
Sutton began strongly and took an early lead when Joe Gildea headed in Alex O’Keefe’s corner in the 6th minute.
United had a great chance to increase their lead in the 18th minute when Tom Cullen found himself through on goal, but a well-timed challenge from Joe Prosser denied him a shot and Sam Price couldn’t find the target when the ball fell to him on the right of goal.
Sutton came close again when O’Keefe delivered a free kick into the penalty box in the 39th minute and Gildea’s flick was initially saved by keeper Jake Granaghan, who then managed to scramble the ball clear ahead of Cullen.
Then just before half time, Wednesfield turned the match around with two quick goals from their first two shots on target. Forward Freddie Cockerell won the ball from Will Jones on the edge of Sutton’s penalty area and the ex-Sutton striker made no mistake with his finish.
Just twenty seconds after the restart Sutton’s keeper, Connor Bryne, was picking the ball out of his net once more, when Jay Holdcroft was given space on the edge of the box to execute a clinical finish that gave Wednesfield the lead heading into the break.
Ten minutes into the second half, Sutton were down to ten men when Sam Price was shown a red card for his challenge on Wednesfield captain Nathan Walker.
Sutton then showed great character to pull themselves level in the 68th minute when Gildea converted a penalty after substitute Shevron Channer was pushed over in the box.
However, in the 77th minute Jones was shown a red card for a late challenge on the edge of Sutton’s penalty box and United had to see out the match with nine men.
Substitutes Pete Weston and Ben Friel made their 1st Team debuts this season, as Sutton dug deep to prevent their visitors from troubling Byrne and, under the circumstances, a point was a welcome result for the hosts.
Next Saturday Sutton make the short trip to Tamworth to take on Coton Green whom they beat in the league fixture earlier this season but lost heavily to in the cup and will therefore be eager to make amends.
Team: Sutton United
1. Connor Byrne
2. Lewis James – 50’ Shevron Channer
3. Alex O’Keefe
4. Matt Bishop
5. Will Jones
6. Kye Billingham-Belle
7. Sam Price
8. Tom Cullen – 66’ Pete Weston
9. Joe Gildea – 90’ Hassan Said
10. Tom Massey (c) – 75’ Ben Friel
11. Sef Semlali – 66’ Kyle Hayden
Management/Assistants:
Richard Heath
Liam Burke
Matt Gough
Chris Bratt-Rose
Amelia Small
Derek Culling
Team: Wednesfield
1. Jake Granaghan
2. Jordan Uppal
3. Lewis Worsey – 73’ Jake Griffiths
4. Nathan Walker (c)
5. Daniel Turton
6. Joe Prosser
7. Tony Agnello – 90+1’ Craig Gregg
8. Bradley Lawley
9. Jay Holdcroft – 73’ Dominic Latham
10. Reagan Wardle – 73’ Rowan Sheehan
11. Freddie Cockerill
Management/Assistants:
John Griffiths
Ryan McDonagh
Joshue Baxter
Daniel Johnson
Match Officials: James Scerri, Simon Lane, Danny Meers
| Sutton United | Statistics | Wednesfield |
| 2 | Goals | 2 |
| 8 | Attempts | 8 |
| 6 | Attempts on Target | 5 |
| 55% | Possession | 45% |
| 3 | Corners | 7 |
| 7 | Fouls Committed | 14 |
| 3 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 2 | Red Cards | 0 |
| Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Opp MOTM |
| Joe Gildea | 23 | 23 | 7 | 8 |
| Sam Price | 18 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Leyton Hines | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Thomas Cullen | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Massey | 23 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| Sef Semlali | 21 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Kieran McConville | 14 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Matt Bishop | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Jon Grigg | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Joe Delaney | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Shane Smith | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Brad Gregory | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lewan Tobin | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jake Murrell | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ethan Hanks | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kyle Hayden | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ryan Delport | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kaine Donald | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Will Buchanan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Alex O’Keefe | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Shevron Channer | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kye Billingham-Belle | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lewis James | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Reiss Wagstaff | 18 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mark Moore | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Will Jones | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tion Pearce-Copeland | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harrison Coe | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Connor Byrne | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Remi Bell | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Simmonds | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hassan Said | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Friel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Cooper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louis Malin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Hurrell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Lewis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pete Weston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shakeer Abdelkhalek | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 47 | 40 |