Match Report

Manager Matt Gray admitted to the BT cameras that he wasn’t sure whether it was a point gained or two points lost after seeing Sutton dominate the first half to such an extent that a two goal lead was almost a disappointment, and then endure a Wealdstone fightback spearheaded by former U’s striker Ross Lafayette that seemed to have been rewarded with all three points after Jacob Mendy had caught Dean Bouzanis out of position from thirty yards. With the last kick of the game, though, Craig Eastmond crashed home an equaliser that ensured that both sides got some reward for the entertainment they gave the viewing public.

Neither goalkeeper will remember the game with any great fondness, Bouzanis stranded by Mendy’s late effort after home keeper Harvey Isted had seen his clearance ricochet off Omar Bugiel in to the net to give U’s a two goal lead after just ten minutes and then been booked in the second half for allegedly handling outside the penalty area when the cameras clearly showed the ball hitting his face.

Bugiel’s reward for putting Isted under pressure rounded off an opening ten minutes which could hardly have gone better for U’s or worse for the home side. In only the fourth minute a Harry Beautyman free kick was laid back by Louis John for David Ajiboye, whose cross was turned goalwards by Bugiel, scrambled off the line by Isted and returned in to the net from a tight angle by Isaac Olaofe, celebrating his 21st birthday, and before they had kicked off after the second goal Wealdstone were making a substitution, Moses Emmanuel, another former Sutton striker, limping off to be replaced by Kundai Benyu.

Apart from one moment when Bouzanis had to dive at Benyu’s feet in the penalty area the first half was then all Sutton, and they should have put the game beyond their opponents before half time. A frantic scramble following a free kick saw John and Eastmond both denied on the line, before Olaofe scampered away on the left but lifted his shot wide of the near post with Bugiel well placed in the middle. The striker on loan from Millwall could easily have been celebrating his birthday with a second hat-trick as he alsio blazed over from close range after Isted had failed to hold Beautyman’s cross, while Bugiel was denied at close range from Olaofe’s low cross when he might have done better, and David Ajiboye might have been slightly disappointed not to go closer when Isted came out of his penalty area and sent a clearance straight to the winger, who was a long way out but had plenty of open goal to aim at.

The suspicion at half time that Sutton hadn’t made the most of their superiority was heightened within thirty seconds of the restart as Danny Parish found space beyond the far post to head Benyu’s cross back across goal, the ball bouncing over Ben Goodliffe to give Lafayette a simple header, and from that point it was completely different game as Wealdstone grew in confidence. They levelled midway through the half when Jerome Okimo glanced on a Danny Green corner and Lafayette volleyed in from just outside the six yard box.

It was difficult after that to predict which way the game would go, with Wealdstone’s tails up but Sutton still a threat even after both Olaofe and Bugiel had been replaced. Indeed it was Sutton who came closest to going back in front when David Ajiboye darted between two defenders and crossed for Beautyman, arriving at the near post, to hit the bar with a glancing header and Callum Kealy’s follow-up effort was deflected over by a defender’s challenge.

Two minutes from the end of the ninety minutes, though, Wealdstone looked to have made the decisive move as Mendy sent in a low shot from outside the penalty area that found Bouzanis further to his left than he should have been and unable to recover his position to prevent the shot going inside the near post.

It looked like a crushing blow for U’s after their first half dominance, and when Beautyman’s free kick was comfortably saved by Isted there seemed no way back. But right at the end of the four additional minutes U’s forced one last corner, with Bouzanis coming forward to try and atone for his error, and given time to take it by referee Tom Reeves, Milsom’s deep corner was headed back by John and rifled in by Eastmond to rescue a point.

Wealdstone: H Isted, M Efete, J Mendy, M Phillips, J Okimo, D Smith, D Parish(sub C Wakefield 84), M Emmanuel(sub K Benyu 12) , R Lafayette, D Green(sub D Parrett 90+1), D Lewis. Subs n/u J Askew, J Cawley. Booked: Lafayette, Benyu, Isted, Okimo.

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