Match Centre

Sutton’s hopes of featuring in the knockout stages of the National League Cup may have ended a while ago, but they took their leave of this season’s competition in some style to ensure that they moved off the bottom of the group above Southampton, who gave U’s a better game than the scoreline might suggest, and the Fulham team that had put seven past U’s in August but then lost all three subsequent games.

Jack Sims and Eduino Vaz returned from injury while there was also a start for Kane Crichlow in attack for U’s, who started the game well and led in the 10th minute when the lively David Ogbonna laid the ball back for Lewis Simper, who had almost found a way through in the first minute,  to drive a low 20-yard shot between goalkeeper Hugo Fisher and his near post.

Southampton had moments on the break, but it was Sutton who were on top for the first half hour and Fisher made a fine save to tip over an Ogbonna shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Fisher was in action again from the resulting corner, reacting well to prevent Kai Jennings’ flag kick from going straight in and then saving Simper’s low shot as the ball dropped on the edge of the area, but within two minutes, against the run of play, Southampton equalised when Baylee Dipepa took advantage of a rebound on the right and set up Sutura Kakay to send a low shot across Sims in to the far corner of the net.

Sutton regained the lead just before the hour mark when Charlie Bell caught the Southampton defence playing the ball out from the back and put Jennings in to score off the post, but Southampton continued to pose a threat going forward, and after Abdulhalim Okunola headed just wide from a free kick, Sims had to save well from Romeo Akachukwu and Nicholas Oyekunle to preserve U’s lead.

That was as close as the visitors came to forcing a penalty shootout, and in stoppage time Sutton put things beyond doubt with the goal of the night as Jack Taylor and Hayden Muller launched an attack from midfield, Muller playing Junior Eccleston in on the right and his superb cross done full justice by a thumping header from Brandon Njoku that crashed in off the bar. Before the final whistle there was time for Taylor to come marauding forward again, this time putting Crichlow through, and although Fisher blocked his shot Mo Dabre was on hand to lift the ball in to the net for his first Sutton goal and round off an evening that the 505 spectators will have felt provided excellent value.

Sutton: J Sims, A Jones, E Vaz(sub A Reeves 89), W Tizzard, J Taylor, C Bell, D Ogbonna(sub M Dabre 57), L Simper(sub J Eccleston 57), B Njoku, K Jennings(sub H Muller 66), K Crichlow. Subs n/u T Reid, E Pruti, D Urpens. Booked: Taylor, Jones, Njoku.

Southampton: H Fisher, H Adjei-Afriyie, S Dibaga(sub T Rohart-Brown 66), Z Awe(sub J Moore 74), T Dobson-Ventura, A Okunola, J O’Brien-Whitmarsh(sub H Gathercole 66), B Williams, B Dipepa(sub R Akachukwu 57), S Kakay(sub W Merry 66), N Oyekunle. Subs n/u D Moody, R Whittaker.

Referee: Kirsty Dowle

Attendance: 505

Photo Credit: Paul Loughlin