GILDEA HAT-TRICK AS SUTTON HIT SIX
BY ANDREW DELANEYSHARE
A first half hat-trick from Joe Gildea set Sutton United 1st Team on their way to a comfortable 6-1 win against Lichfield City Casuals in the Fazeley Charity Cup.
Sutton’s opponents are currently sitting fourteenth in the Premier Division of the Staffordshire County Senior League, and they soon knew they were in for a tough afternoon when Sutton took the lead two minutes after kick-off, with a lovely move out from the back, as Gildea controlled Joe Delaney’s delivery to flick the ball in past the keeper.
United doubled their lead with a very different goal as Reiss Wagstaff sent a long kick forward that Lichfield’s defender Kieron O’Sullivan headed into the path of Gildea. The striker took full advantage to bend a wonderful shot from eighteen yards past the motionless Lee Garghan, between the sticks for the visitors.
Just two minutes later, Gildea had his second hat-trick of the season, when he converted Delaney’s corner with a superb volley from six yards.
Sutton were enjoying the bulk of the possession and they made it four before the break. Gildea was involved again as he picked up a neat threaded ball from Delaney and found Hines free in the box to slot home his seventh goal of the season.
The main threat from the visitors in the first half had come from long-range efforts, yet within minutes of the restart, they had their best opportunity of the match, winning a corner straight from the kick-off that saw Ben Mortiboy drilling a strong effort from the edge of the box that had Wagstaff reacting to save with his legs.
However, it wasn’t long before Sutton extended their lead when Jonny Grigg’s shot from the edge of the box was blocked by O’Sullivan and Delaney picked up the rebound to fire in across Garghan.
The visitors showed great resilience and they were rewarded with a very good goal in the 58th minute. Mortiboy won the ball on the halfway line and drove to the edge of Sutton’s penalty box, played a one-two with substitute Ben Mann and finished with a clever half-volley.
United continued to press and were awarded a penalty in the 83rd minute after Sef Semlali was pulled back dribbling along the by-line and captain Josh Duggan executed a precise spot kick into the bottom corner to complete a dominant 6-1 result and passage to the next round of the cup.
Next Saturday sees Sutton return to league action as they play host to Inkberrow at Hollyfield Road 2pm kick-off.
| Sutton United | Statistics | Lichfield City Casuals |
| 6 | Goals | 1 |
| 17 | Attempts | 8 |
| 11 | Attempts on Target | 5 |
| 12 | Corners | 4 |
| 4 | Fouls Committed | 4 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |