Chris Agutter was candid in his assessment of both the performance and the outcome of Sutton’s clash with Walton & Hersham, with the U’s exiting the Isuzu FA Trophy at the Third Round stage.
A chaotic 12-minute period put Sutton the sword with two penalties and a red card seeing the Swans race into a 4-0 advantage, bringing the end to a disappointing afternoon in Walton-on-Thames.
“Credit to Walton & Hersham, they deserved to progress in the competition.”
“They created more chances, carried more threat, a great advert for – you can have a load of the ball but it’s not the be all and end all in football.
“They were a real threat on the counter attack, we didn’t get our lock up right in behind the ball which is where their second and third goals come from, so when it turns over high, I’m not sure what we were doing behind the ball.”
“It certainly wasn’t what we have been doing of late, it just meant we got done on the counter. I think if all of the straightforward chances in the game had been taken it probably would have been 7-4 to Walton. Credit to them, they deserve to progress in the competition and equally we deserve to go out.”
Despite conceding early, Sutton dominated possession for large spells of the first half and created a number of promising situations, an the Head Coach felt that the response from his players was there, even if the finishing touch was missing before the interval.
However, he also pointed to a decisive spell shortly after the restart that proved costly, as Walton & Hersham punished Sutton ruthlessly on the break and turned control into chaos.
“We should go in [at half time] at least on level terms, I’d say.”
“We’ve missed a couple of one-on-ones, put the ball into some great areas, some very good deliveries. Similar to extra time against Shrewsbury where we flashed a couple across the box, a couple of really good deliveries from George Vorster off the left, but nobody there. So I think we probably should be going in on level terms; the response was fine.”
“And then second half, I think it was about ten minutes of madness. I’ve seen something similar to that before – it was at Truro away last year – and the game gets out of reach, just where we got killed on the counter attack. Today was very similar, so, as I said, deserved to be going out of competition.”
“Their chances came from counter-attacks and I think the lead-up to the second goal, we’ve got the ball in the six-yard box and we’re weak in a tackle.”
“Their captain kicks through one of our lads to win the ball, shows a bit of aggression and physicality and moves one of our lads out of the way, we dangle a foot, the lock-up’s not right in behind it and you just get done on the counter-attack.”
Agutter went on to explain that decision-making and defensive discipline in transition were the key issues throughout the afternoon.
“Some of our defending on the counter-attack wasn’t too clever in terms of we’re running towards the ball and sometimes you just need to drop and delay to give your mates time to get back in.”
“We’ve gone towards the ball, they’ve then been given an obvious pass and we’ve almost sped the counter attack up four rather than drop and delay and let the lads stay on the ball.”
“And then when it gets really urgent, you then sort of go to the ball in and around your 18 yard box. We didn’t do that, just defended the counter attack really poorly and deservedly conceded the goals that we did.”
Despite the disappointment of the result, there were positives in terms of youth involvement, with several academy players being given valuable minutes in a competitive environment. George Vorster played a large chunk of the match, while Mehmet Halim came on at the interval and Adam Reeves was an unused substitute.
“I thought George Vorster was probably our best attacking player in the first half.”
“I thought he’d done well, and as I said he should either be on the score heet today with at least a goal or an assist – some really good runs in behind.”
“Mehmet we had to bring on at half time because we had little or no threat in the first half from the centre forward, and Belly [Charlie Bell] – I know he’s not an academy player anymore, he’s a first team player – I thought Charlie Bell when he came on was outstanding. I think if you’re going to give any one man the match, I think you’d probably give it to Charlie Bell for his 20, 25 minute cameo.”
“Yeah, a good day for the academy in terms of opportunities that have been earned, but not a great day for the club, unfortunately.”
