For the rest of March Sutton don’t have to venture outside the M25, with four home games plus a visit to Barnet, and for the first of three consecutive fixtures at Gander Green Lane U’s welcome Torquay United tomorrow. When Sutton headed west in November the two sides’ form could hardly have been more different, with Torquay, in their first season back at this level after winning National League South, challenging at the top of the table after a run of six wins in seven and U’s entrenched in the bottom four having failed to win in nearly two months. However, with Nik Tzanev and Louis John making their first appearances, U’s upset the form book with a 2-1 win (above, Harry Beautyman scoring the winner), and the result sparked a reversal of fortunes, with Torquay then losing six league games in a row and U’s losing only three of sixteen subsequent National League fixtures.
The upshot is that the sides go in to tomorrow’s game next to each other in the table, midway between the playoff area and the relegation zone, and U’s will move above their opposition with a win. Torquay’s form has steadied since the turn of the year, with only one defeat in their last six games although away from home they have won only one of their last seven, while U’s are unbeaten at home since the defeat against Bromley a week after the Plainmoor result.
Torquay’s last visit to Sutton was in November 2017, when, in a season that would end in relegation, Torquay enjoyed a rare success, winning 1-0, while the previous season U’s, who have won on all three league visits to Plainmoor, came out on top 2-0
Having been without Harry Beautyman, Craig Eastmond and Louis John at Halifax on Tuesday U’s are hopeful that they may be able to play a part tomorrow, while they will have to be wary of Torquay striker Jamie Reid, whose figure of 18 goals this season is bettered only by Barrow’s Scott Quigley.
