Match Report

Just when it seemed as though Sutton were on course for a first win at Aldershot since 1998, a goal with virtually the last kick of the game rescued a point for Aldershot and left U’s coming off the pitch with the air of a team that had been beaten. The quality of the game reflected that, in temperatures of 30+ degrees, both sides had played two days earlier and were playing their seventh game in 23 days, but having edged in front thanks to a Jamie Collins penalty with seven minutes to go, it was a heavy blow for U’s to concede so late.

Collins should not have been playing, having suffered food poisoning over the weekend and named on the substitutes’ bench, but he was called in to action when Dan Matsuzaka, starting for U’s for the first time, coincidentally against the manager for whom he had played at Braintree last season, was knocked out in a collision with Jamie Butler and Aldershot striker Connor Shields, whose prompt realisation of the potential seriousness of the situation was recognised by U’s supporters in front of whom the incident occurred. Matsuzaka was carried off after eight minutes of attention and taken to hospital for tests.

Prior to the injury it had already been a scrappy game, with both sides misplacing passes, but it was Aldershot who had had the chances that did arise, with Butler tipping over a shot from AJ Eyoma, who then embarked on a penetrating run that saw referee Alan Dale play two advantages as first Rob Milsom then Kenny Davis impeded him, but as the move continued Harrison Panayiotou sliced his shot badly wide. Davis was booked for his foul, Milsom escaped with a warning.

There was occasional threat from Sutton, David Ajiboye ending one run with a cross that was cleared and George Tuson-Firth, making his full debt against his former club, also produced one good run that saw him stay on his feet after a risky Aldershot challenge in the penalty area but then unable to provide a decent cross. The closest to a goal, though, came when Craig Eastmond spotted Mitch Walker off his line and tried his luck from just inside the home half, the ball only just going over the bar.

After Matsuzaka’s departure Aldershot could have been in front but Shields shot high and wide from a good position, and the inaccuracy of Aldershot’s finishing continued in the second half as Eyoma cut in from the left but again failed to test Butler.

Tommy Wright replaced Tuson-Firth with a quarter of the game to go, but for all their hard work U’s still struggled to create any clear cut chances, Ben Goodliffe shooting wide from a narrow angle when one Milsom free kick came in to the penalty area, but with seven minutes left a sustained spell of possession ended with the ball finding Tom Bolarinwa, who had deputised superbly at right back for the injured Dale Bennett and who now played a part in an attacking role, sending in a fine cross to the far post where Aaron Jarvis was wrestled over by Robbie Tinkler as he tried to make contact. Tinkler was booked, Collins sent Walker the wrong way from the spot, and U’s seemed on course for the points.

They might have made sure moments later when Jarvis was just unable to convert Ajiboye’s low cross, but, with the indicated four minutes of extra time coming to a close, one last free kick saw Aldershot throw men forward. Butler punched the ball clear, and had Jarvis been able to send the ball downfield that might have been that, but Alfy Whittingham’s block saw the ball divert to Lewis Kinsella. His deep cross was again punched away by Butler but when Panayiotou lifted the ball back in to the goalmouth it fell to substitute Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong whose shot found the net despite Milsom’s desperate effort to clear off the line but who was injured in the process of scoring and immediately replaced, even though the final whistle went as soon as U’s had restarted.

Aldershot: M Walker, R Tinkler, L Kinsella, K Lyons- Foster, G Fowler, A Whittingham, AJ Eyoma, E Chislett, S Mullings, C Shields(sub J Berkeley-Agyepong 74)(sub A Santos 90+5), H Panayiotou. Subs n/u R Hall, H Woodward, L Montague. Booked: Shields, Tinkler.

Referee: Alan Dale