Match Centre

Sutton came back from conceding two goals in the first fifteen minutes to take a valuable point at the EBB Stadium. In a game high on incident if not always high in quality that ended with both teams down to ten men, U’s seemed in for a long afternoon when Ryan Hill converted a penalty to put the home side two up, but Lewis Simper immediately halved the deficit, and by the time he scored his second of the afternoon from the spot with seventeen minutes left U’s would have fancied themselves to go on and win with Shots’ Olly Scott sent off for a second yellow card for the foul on David Ogbonna. However U’s were themselves reduced to ten when Charlie Bell picked up a second yellow card, and with Charlie Warren hitting a post and substitute Josh Barrett having a corner scrambled off the line it was U’s who were the more relieved to hear the final whistle.

The game had an inauspicious start for U’s as Besart Topallaj was booked after just 39 seconds, though he could have few complaints after a foul that prevented Brody Peart getting away. James Henry put that free kick straight in to the hands of Jack Sims, but his next, five minutes later after a foul by Kwaku Donkor, produced the first goal although probably not in the way that would have been planned. Donkor should have cleared a poor delivery from the left, but miskicked completely and when Ryheem Sheckleford knocked the ball down it was scuffed in off the post by Callum Stewart.

Henry had another free kick opportunity moments later after a foul by Junior Eccleston just outside the penalty area, and this time only passing traffic was threatened, however Eccleston had no such reprieve in the 15th minute when he first underhit a back pass to Sims and then fouled Cameron Hargreaves as he tried to rescue the situation. He was booked, and Hill converted the penalty to leave Sutton with plenty to do.

The recovery began within four minutes as Jayden Harris’s cross fell for Simper on the edge of the goal area and he scrambled the ball in, and two minutes later U’s could have been level when Brandon Njoku was put through on the left but goalkeeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke took enough power off the shot to allow Christy Grogan to get back and clear from inside the six yard box.

Having steadied the ship by half time, Sutton should have been level as quickly at the start of the second half as Topallaj had been booked at the start of the first, with David Ogbonna and Donkor combining well on the right, and a mistake allowing Donkor’s cross to reach Njoku, who had just Boyce-Clarke to beat but shot too close to the keeper who saved with his legs. Toby Byron then came on in the left wing back position, Topallaj joining Eccleston and Edon Pruti in a back three, and he was an immediate threat on the left where Hill, who had just moved to right back as Aldershot made a switch of their own, struggled to handle the recent Sutton signing. With seventeen minutes to go Byron outmuscled Hill and played a ball through for Ogbonna, who might have been struggling to reach it before Boyce-Clarke but was brought down by Scott to concede a penalty and earn Scott his second yellow card in the space of nine minutes, although having immediately shown the yellow card referee Rob Massey-Ellis took a very long time to produce the subsequent red.

Simper crashed home the penalty, and Sutton seemed set to push for victory, with Byron again beating Hill on the left and cutting in to fire a shot that was saved by Boyce-Clark. However they allowed Aldershot to regain the initiative, and Warren met Stewart’s cross at the near post only to see his shot come back off the foot of the post. It was then ten against ten as Bell, who might have been treated leniently to reach the 77th minute before being booked, had no such luck when he again transgressed with four minutes left.

Bell’s dismissal, his third of the season at all levels, led to a league debut for the latest academy player to break in to the National League team, Ronny Ruiz replacing Ogbonna as U’s tried to shore up the midfield, and they had to survive a huge scare when Barrett, who had only just come on, swung in a corner from the left that threatened to end up in the net before U’s scrambled it off the line. The slightly chaotic nature of the closing stages continued to the final whistle as Simper had claims for a penalty turned down after he jinked in from the right before tangling with Sam Inwood, and the Aldershot clearance looked to have sent Kwame Thomas clear only for the offside flag to go up, the final whistle going before U’s took the free kick.

Sutton: J Sims, K Donkor, B Topallaj, J Eccleston, E Pruti, J Taylor, C Bell, L Simper, B Njoku(sub D Rodari 90+2), J Harris(sub T Byron 61), D Ogbonna(sub R Ruiz 87). Subs n/u D Urpens, D Eze, D Cashman. Booked: Topallaj, Eccleston, Bell, Taylor. Sent Off: Bell

Aldershot: C  Boyce-Clark, R Sheckleford(sub T Widdrington 59), O Scott, W Nightingale, C Grogan, R Hill, C Hargreaves, J Henry(sub D Tetek H-T)(sub J Barrett 90), C Stewart(sub K Thomas 90), C Warren, B Peart(sub S Inwood 77). Subs n/u H Ghandour, P Nash. Booked: Scott, Hill, Thomas. Sent Off: Scott

Referee: Rob Massey-Ellis

Attendance: 3,034(438 away)