Match Centre

Sutton’s poor record at Boston continued with a seventh game without a win as a goal early in the second half from Tom Cursons on his home debut gave Boston a win to continue their revival under Paul Hurst and lift them five points clear of the relegation zone, while U’s remain outside the bottom four on goal difference ahead of Braintree, who are the visitors at the VBS on Wednesday,

Any neutral at the game would probably have forgotten it by the time they reached the exit, with chances  at both ends at a premium, but Cursons took advantage of a mistake by Jake Taylor to give the crucial goal just two minutes after the interval, before Sutton’s half time change, replacing David Ogbonna with Davide Rodari, had any chance to have an impact.

Edon Pruti started a league game for the first time since his red card and injury at Solihull before Christmas, and alongside Haydon Muller and Besart Topallaj defended well in the first half, with Jack Sims only called in to action once as he fisted away a fierce drive from Matty Carson. Just before that, a fine piece of defending from Muller had prevented a low cross from Cursons being turned in at the far post by Ken Aboh, but that was about the extent of the goalmouth activity at either end. Pruti did get his head on one cross from the right but was unable to direct his effort which flew harmlessly wide.

Rodari’s introduction at the break saw him in attack alongside Ashley Nadesan, but within two minutes the decisive goal had gone in at the other end as Taylor was caught in possession on the edge of the Sutton penalty area by Cursons, who then made space for himself to guide the ball beyond Sims and inside the far post.

Sutton responded when Simper cut in from the right and hit a shot from twenty yards that was tipped round the post by Andrew Wogan, but that was as close as U’s would come. Simper hit the side netting with a free kick from a tight angle, and sent another shot from the edge of the penalty area in to the construction site for the new terrace behind the goal, but Sutton’s final pass was often misplaced, several promising set pieces were wasted with poor delivery, on more than one occasion claimed unchallenged by Wogan, and U’s struggled to get the ball forward to create any meaningful pressure in the quest for an equaliser despite Sims being untested by the home side.

Sutton: J Sims, J Eccleston, B Topallaj, H Muller(sub D Eze 76), E Pruti, J Taylor, K Jennings(sub C Bell 85), L Simper, J Francis, A Nadesan(sub B Njoku 90), D Ogbonna(sub D Rodari H-T). Subs n/u J Harris, K Donkor, C Haigh. Booked: Rodari, Taylor.

Boston: A Wogan, J Rooney, M Carson, C Teale, J Grimes, G Sloggett(sub J Hiwula 31)(sub B Grist 90+4), O Gallagher, D Hill, T Cursons(sub K Donnelly 85), J Richards, K Aboh(sub M Lavinier 85). Subs n/u A Raikhy, L Waldock, R Lovett, Booked: Hiwula.

Referee: Matthew Scholes

Attendance: 1,681(77 away)