Match Report

Sutton are still looking for a first home league win of the season after Maidenhead scored three times in the last half hour to maintain their 100% away record and extend their run of victories against Sutton to five out of five since being promoted to the National League in 2017. For an hour there was little suggestion of what was to come, with Sutton having shaded a dour game and unlucky not to be awarded a penalty just before half time. Then Shamir Fenelon struck a superb individual goal to put the visitors ahead, and as U’s disintegrated, finishing with ten men after Omar Bugiel had been sent off, Maidenhead were able to cruise to a comfortable victory.

There was little to excite in the first half after a testy start in which Kenny Davis and Maidenhead’s Jake Cassidy were booked with neither goalkeeper seriously tested. There was promise from U’s as David Ajiboye produced a darting run in from the left and saw his shot blocked, and Craig Eastmond surged through from midfield only to be denied by a fine tackle from Joe Ellul, but U’s should have had the chance to go in front just before the break when Ben Goodliffe almost had his shirt pulled off his back as he tried to reach a Rob Milsom free kick. Much to Goodliffe’s horror referee Richard Hulme, with no help from his assistant who would have had a perfect view, waved play on.

The second half followed a similar pattern until just after the hour mark, when Shamir Fenelon ran from just inside the Sutton half and unleashed a shot from all of 25 yards that flew past Jamie Butler. From that point the visitors took control, and although there was a half chance when Ajiboye’s cross from the by-line ran to Tom Bolarinwa, whose shot was deflected over the bar, U’s were becoming increasingly frustrated, with little fluent football to threaten a solid Maidenhead defence even after the introduction of Omar Bugiel alongside Aaron Jarvis.

The game drifted further away from U’s with eleven minutes to go as Milsom was dispossessed by Ryan Upward after failing to gather a throw-out from Butler that had too much pace, and Upward’s low cross from the right was swept in by Cassidy. Three minutes later, as well as two goals down, they were also a man down as the referee decided that Bugiel had used an elbow with too much force as he tried to hold off James Comley.

There was one chance for U’s to make the closing stages interesting as Bolarinwa found himself clear in the penalty area, but Ashby-Hammond was off his line quickly to save, and with the five minutes of additional time almost up Cassidy went over in the penalty area as he tried to go between defenders, the referee pointed to the spot, and Danny Whitehall completed an afternoon that U’s will want to forget quickly.

Maidenhead: T Ashby Hammond, S Twumasi, R Steer, J Ellul, A Massey, R Upward, S Fenelon(sub H Landers 88), J Comley, J Cassidy, J Smile(sub D Whitehall 77), B Mensah(sub J Akintunde70). Subs n/u A Davies, R Sheckleford. Booked: Cassidy, Steer, Comley.

Referee: Richard Hulme