27.10.2026 Vs Anstey Town

Goals from Jayden Hunter, Tion Pearce and Joey Buckley secured Sutton’s place in the next round, although the score line could have been even more emphatic had it not been for an outstanding performance from visiting goalkeeper Jude Watson.

The Greens set the tempo from the start and were rewarded in the 12th minute when Hunter capitalised on a misplaced back pass. The striker reacted quickly to round Watson before calmly slotting home his twelfth goal of the campaign to hand Sutton an early advantage.

Sutton continued to press for a second as Hunter remained a constant threat and almost doubled his tally when he burst clear of the Anstey defence, only to fire over the crossbar. Moments before the interval he came even closer, forcing a fine save from Watson before the ball spun onto the post and was eventually cleared off the line by Vashirn Roache.

With confidence flowing, Red Simmons narrowly missed the target from distance and Joseph Afful forced another excellent stop from Weston after a powerful effort from the left wing.

Afful’s pace and direct running caused problems throughout the evening, and he won Sutton a penalty in the 67th minute. Chasing onto a pass from Buckley, the winger nicked the ball ahead of Watson before being brought down inside the area. Hunter stepped up looking to extend Sutton’s lead, but Watson once again came to Anstey’s rescue with an excellent diving save to his left.

Despite the missed opportunity, Sutton continued to dominate the chances. Afful remained at the heart of United’s attack and almost created a second goal when his dangerous low cross flashed across the six-yard box and just beyond the reach of substitute Javaughn Francis.

While Anstey worked hard and remained competitive throughout, the Division One outfit struggled to create clear opportunities against a well-organised Sutton side marshalled by captain Greg Lewis. The introduction of fresh legs from the bench gave the Greens added impetus during the closing stages as gaps began to appear in the visitors’ defence.

Sutton’s second goal finally arrived with eight minutes remaining. A corner from substitute Max Jones was headed on by Francis and defender Pearce reacted brilliantly, stretching to force the ball over the line for his first goal of the season and effectively sealing Sutton’s progression.

United were not finished there and deep into stoppage time another Sutton corner was only partially cleared, and Joseph Kwarteng collected the ball before finding Buckley in space. The midfielder took aim from 25 yards and produced a superb strike that proved too powerful for Watson and flew into the top of the net, capping an excellent team display with his first goal for the Greens.

It was a professional performance from United, who utilised the quality in their squad to comfortably book their place in the third round.

Attention now turns to the FA Vase on Saturday 31st October, when Sutton travel to Harrowby United in the Second Round, with kick off scheduled for 3pm.

Team: Sutton United
1. Greg Lewis (c)
2. Ethan Mee – 76’ Aidan Mee
3. Red Simmons
4. Tion Pearce
5. James Gallagher
6. Joey Buckley
7. Sean Devlin – 66’ Javaughn Francis
8. Ethan Reynolds
9. Jayden Hunter - 80’ Max Jones
10. Ryan Nesbitt – 80’ Joseph Kwarteng
11. Joseph Afful – 76’ Alfie Bromley

Management/Assistants:
Neil Tooth, Phil Male, Sam Heath,
Mark Brady, Sinead McElwaine,
Derrick Culling, Marcus Davies, Daire McBride

Team: Anstey Town
1. Jude Watson
2. Vashirn Roache
3. Shay Louis
4. Joe Harris (c)
5. Joshua O’Brien – 46’ Oliver Preston
6. Zak Harris
7. Tom Barsby – 46’ Joshua McNamara
8. Tawanda Mangondoza
9. Szymon Donnerstag
10. Joshua Parker – 78’ Archie Allen
11. Kai O’Keeffe – 42’ Lotredge Muteera
Sub Unused: Daniel Yadav

Management/Assistants:
Kob Harris, Casey Wooding,
Nico Lerner

Match Officials: Ashley Boon, Christopher Fox, Nikodem Siuda

 

Sutton United	Statistics	Anstey Town
3	Goals	0
16	Attempts	1
9	Attempts on Target	0
56%	Possession	44%
8	Corners	1
8	Fouls Committed	9
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
Red Simmons	Club Man of the Match
Ethan Mee	Opp Man of the Match	Jude Watson