Stalemate at Stapenhill

Andrew Delaney19 Nov 2023

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Sutton United came away from Maple Grove with a hard-earned point in a tough mid-table match against Stapenhill.

On a very heavy pitch it was the home side who began the brightest and it wasn’t long before Sutton’s keeper Connor Byrne, on his debut for the First Team, was called into action with a terrific save to deny George Teeney.

Jonny Grigg was playing in his preferred number 10 role for Sutton and was instrumental in the opening goal in the 17th minute. Running onto Mark Moore’s ball over the top, Grigg was strong enough to beat his defender and with Paul Hollis off his line to challenge, the ball then fell kindly for Tom Cullen to slot into an empty net for his second goal of the season.

The hosts equalised in the 38th minute when Samuel Birks glanced his header into the roof of the net from a corner kick.

There were several big decisions made in the match that frustrated both sides, one of which happened just before the break when Swans captain Charlie Rumin was lucky to only receive a yellow card when he brought down Grigg, who would have been through on goal.

Central defender Mark Moore picked up an injury at the end of the first half and did not come out for the restart. With a shortage of defenders on the bench, Kye Billingham-Belle replaced him with a very solid performance at right back.

Sutton also gave a debut to winger Kyle Hayden, who was previously playing for Romulus, and his pace up front caused problems for the home side during the second half.

Both sides had to work hard with some good football despite the conditions. Stapenhill twice hit the woodwork with shots from distance and for Sutton, Joe Gildea tested the keeper from the edge of the box and saw an effort wide of the target under challenge from Rumin.
Next Saturday Sutton turn their attention to the Fazeley Charity Cup when they take on fellow MFL 1 side Coton Green at Coleshill Road with a 3.30pm kick off.

Team: Stapenhill
1. Paul Hollis
2. Niall Dawkins
3. Lewis Campbell
4. Charlie Rumin (c)
5. James Frost
6. Connor Richins
7. Ben Novis – 77’ Tommy Large
8. Cameron Steele – 87’ Jake Meakin
9. Samuel Birks
10. Ryan King
11. George Teeney – 90+1’ Jude Ayetine
Substitutes unused: Ashton Frost, David Agyekum

Management/Assistants:
Mick Woods
Andy Stephenson
Thomas Hammerton

Team: Sutton United
1. Connor Byrne
2. Will Jones
3. Jake Murrell
4. Lewis James
5. Mark Moore – 45’ Kye Billingham-Belle
6. James Stretton – 50’ Kyle Hayden
7. Tom Cullen – 67’ Sef Semlali
8. Tom Massey
9. Sam Price – 59’ Ryan Delport
10. Jonny Grigg
11. Joe Gildea
Substitutes unused: Lewan Tobin

Management/Assistants:
Liam Burke
Richard Heath
Chris Bratt-Rose
Amelia Small

Match Officials: Imran Ahmed, Daniel Hill, Charlie Head

Stapenhill	Statistics	Sutton United
1	Goals	1
11	Attempts	7
5	Attempts on Target	3
56%	Possession	44%
11	Corners	4
10	Fouls Committed	2
4	Yellow Cards	2
1	Red Cards	0
Ryan King	Opp Man of the Match

Player	Appearances	Goals	Assists	Opp MOTM
Joe Gildea	19	17	4	6
Leyton Hines	5	4	1	1
Tom Massey	19	2	5	1
Sef Semlali	18	2	3	1
Sam Price	14	2	3	0
Kieran McConville	13	2	3	0
Matt Bishop	13	2	1	1
Thomas Cullen	7	2	0	0
Jon Grigg	20	1	2	0
Joe Delaney	3	1	2	1
Shane Smith	8	1	1	0
Brad Gregory	5	1	0	0
Jake Murrell	12	0	1	0
Lewan Tobin	12	0	1	0
Ethan Hanks	11	0	1	0
Ryan Delport	5	0	1	0
Kaine Donald	4	0	1	0
Will Buchanan	4	0	1	0
Kye Billingham-Belle	20	0	0	0
Reiss Wagstaff	18	0	0	4
Lewis James	17	0	0	0
Mark Moore	14	0	0	0
Will Jones	13	0	0	0
Tion Pearce-Copeland	12	0	0	0
Harrison Coe	8	0	0	0
Remi Bell	3	0	0	0
Sam Simmonds	3	0	0	0
Connor Byrne	1	0	0	0
Daniel Cooper	1	0	0	0
Kyle Hayden	1	0	0	0
Louis Malin	1	0	0	0
Matt Hurrell	1	0	0	0
Matt Lewis	1	0	0	0
Shakeer Abdelkhalek	1	0	0	0
Total		37	31