Sutton United boss Chris Agutter hailed an “emotional” and “brilliant” night at Gander Green Lane as his side secured a 2–1 victory over Woking despite playing much of the contest with ten men.
An entertaining first half saw no limit to the drama, with goals from Kai Jennings and Brandon Njoku either side of a Jack Turner equaliser putting Sutton into the ascendancy before the break, but not before Chris Haigh was shown a straight red card on his league debut for the club after clashing with Matt Ward in an attempt to meet a long ball.
Nonetheless, the U’s battled bravely throughout the remainder of the game, and once again rose to the challenge to see out a crucial three points that sees them jump out of the bottom four.
“I thought 11 v 11 we were very good, very good,” Agutter said. “We’re pleased with some of the changes that we’ve made and we’re delighted with how the players have been able to apply that. I thought we caused some real problems and were deservedly leading 11 v 11.”
“When we went down to ten men, we just said to the lads, let’s start with ten from the first minute and go from there. I thought it was a brilliant performance. Defensively we were very solid and limited them to two free kicks when it was ten v 11.
“At 11 v 11 they had more chances, but ten v 11 I don’t think they really caused us problems. That was more a reflection of us being really good defensively.”
The U’s boss said that his side carried a significant threat on the counter-attack, creating several big chances to extend their lead.
“From an attacking perspective we carried a massive threat. How many one-on-ones did we miss? 2 v 1, 3 v 2 in half a pitch, really good counter-attacking positions. Brilliant defending to turn the ball over and then our first forward passes were very good.”
“We got into some really good positions but were wasteful, but we’re obviously really pleased with that result.”
“I think Woking are very good. When we were prepping for the game we knew it would be incredibly tough. They’re adaptable, they change shape, they’re always incredibly well organised – and they offered up a different shape tonight to the one we prepared for. All those factors make the win even better.”
“The six weeks after Shrewsbury was the worst injury crisis I’ve ever seen. We had four sent off in three games — big players missing for multiple matches. It was ridiculous.
“Now we’ve got players returning and we’ve added a couple. We’ve lost one game in seven, so the challenge has been converting draws into wins – and we’ve done that tonight.”
Among the standout performers was Jermaine Francis, whose energy left a lasting impression, and saw him named Man of the Match by match sponsors Shawgibbs, having put in a superb display that saw him cover a hell of a lot of ground.
“He’s brilliant. We say we’re down to ten men but he was worth about three players. The distance he covered was brilliant. His energy and enthusiasm is infectious. He’s on the edge – I love it. That sort of personality is what this young group needs, and he played with that tonight.”
“I thought Jams and Jake Taylor were outstanding. Kai Jennings was back to his best as well. It was a really, really good team performance with two or three very, very good individual performances.”
Tactically, Agutter revealed that Sutton the changes made were something born out of adjustments made late on against Braintree Town in midweek. He subsequently opted to reward Njoku with a start after his late goal against the Iron, pairing up with Francis and Lewis Simper in attack.
“It was off the back of some of the changes we made with ten men against Braintree. We saw some bits in that 15-minute period tactically that I thought was something to go with. We settled the midfield slightly differently and I think it worked again tonight. We played through them incredibly well.
“Brandon and Jams up top looks a real threat. If they went tight, that gave us space in behind. If they dropped off, that gave us space in between. I was really pleased with the balance.”
Furthermore, the Head Coach’s hand was forced for a third time in between the sticks, with Jack Sims dropping out with a back problem before kick-off, and led to Haigh’s introduction before his sending off, which resulted in David Aziaya unexpectedly entering the fray.
“David’s injured by the way – he shouldn’t really be on the bench. He’s got a problem with his knee. But I don’t think he really had much to do. One save from a direct free kick, but other than that I don’t think he’s tested. That’s credit to David and the nine players in front of him – they were brilliant.”
On Sims’ absence, he added: “It’s a back injury – a repeat of the previous one – but hopefully we’ve caught it before it gets too serious. He probably could have played but you don’t want to lose arguably the best goalkeeper in the league for six to eight weeks.”
The night also marked a 100th Sutton appearance for Lewis Simper, and Agutter was quick to acknowledge the milestone.
“I thought he was good, he creates moments out of nothing.”
“That run along the byline was brilliant and deserved a better finish. Loads of really good individual performances making up a brilliant, brilliant team performance.”
Finally, the Sutton boss reserved special praise for the supporters.
“They were trying to suck the ball in at the end. I’m up in the stands pulling my hair out at the missed chances, but it’s no surprise we created them because the energy from the support was dragging us up the pitch.
“When you get the players and the supporters full of energy, noise and intensity, that’s a powerful thing. So this is three points for the whole football club. The players deserve huge credit, but so do the supporters – they played just as much of a part.”
