Sutton’s bite beats the Wulfs
A gritty team performance saw Sutton United beat higher league opponents AFC Wulfrunians and book their place in round 2 of the FA Vase.
Sutton took an early lead through Oli Jeeves before Freddie Cockerell levelled up for Wulfrunians. Tom Massey then renewed the lead for United midway through the second half, before having to sit out a ten-minute sin bin. United survived their numerical disadvantage and went on to seal the victory in style when Scott Hardy netted a memorable first goal for the club.
Sutton made three changes to their line-up from last week, with Abdul Touaiti and Joe Gildea starting, and under-21’s goalkeeper Gabe Newey coming in for the suspended Greg Lewis.
Sutton opened their account in the 4th minute, when Gildea headed on Newey’s goal kick, for Hayden Froggatt to charge into the penalty area and square the ball for Oli Jeeves to tap in at the back post.
The MFL Premier side equalised in the 18th minute when a ball over the top had striker Cockerell, running in behind Sutton’s defence to fire in under Newey.
Other than the two goals, there were very few clear-cut chances created for either side in the first half. The hosts began to dominate possession with Sutton working hard to nullify any chances.
The second half continued much the same way until Sutton regained the lead in the 62nd minute, when a Sam Jeeves corner kick was slotted home from close range by Massey.
Then with twenty minutes to go, the Sutton captain received a yellow card and ten-minute sin bin for dissent. Wulfrunians used the time to push for an equaliser, but United remained defensively solid, limiting their hosts to one real chance with a looping ball from distance that Newey had to tip over his crossbar.
Hardy came off the bench to make sure of the win for Sutton in the last minute of normal time, as he picked up a loose ball and ran towards the edge of the box, and with three defenders around him, he still managed to get his shot away and find the bottom corner of the net to send United through to the next round.
Sutton have another cup game on Wednesday 23rd October when they travel to fellow MFL 1 side Nuneaton Griff in the Midweek Floodlit Challenge Cup.
Team: AFC Wulfrunians
1. Sam Arnold
2. Jordan Uppal
3. Craig Tuckley
4. Curtis Cocking – 86’ Ronny Nkuidjeu
5. Daniel Turton – 86’ Ricardo Ricketts
6. Joe Prosser
7. Tom Poole – 74’ Angelo Franco
8. Timothy Oyanda – 63’ Tui Gustavo Sanches
9. Freddie Cockerell
10. Jay Holdcroft
11. Jake Webb – 63’ Jake Lloyd
Management/Assistants:
John Griffiths
Andrew Carrier
Curtis Millett
Mark Smith
Dan Newman
Team: Sutton United
1. Gabe Newey
2. Jon Grigg
3. Zach Binns
4. Matt Bishop
5. Tion Pearce
6. Sam Jeeves
7. Tom Massey (c) sb
8. Abdul Touaiti
9. Oli Jeeves – 59’ Leyton Hines
10. Joe Gildea – 79’ Scott Hardy
11. Hayden Froggatt – 87’ Sef Semlali
Unused sub: Louis Malin, Sam Simmonds
Management/Assistants:
Richard Heath
Liam Burke
Bobby Brittan
Amelia Small
Match Officials: Ariel Ward, Andrew Genders, Paul Buren