Sutton v Leyton Orient preview

14 April 2023

The VBS Community Stadium will be the centre of attention in the Sky Bet League Two championship and promotion race over the next four days with the top two teams in the current table providing the opposition as Sutton try and keep in touch with the play-off places.

On Tuesday second placed Northampton are the visitors, but on Saturday Leyton Orient, who have pretty much led the table since the start of the season, will be looking for the win that could, if Carlisle fail to beat Northampton, Stockport fail to beat Gillingham, and Bradford lose to Rochdale, secure their promotion to League One. In addition to winning at the VBS, Orient need all three of those results to go their way if the promotion celebrations that have for a long time seemed inevitable are not to be delayed until at least Tuesday's visit to Gillingham.

After a brief blip after Christmas when Orient won only once in seven games following their 2-0 win over Sutton, the East London side have regained their early season form and are unbeaten in twelve games since a 1-0 defeat at Tranmere at the end of January, and they lead Northampton by eight points going in to the weekend fixtures. U's made them work for that success in December, Orient needing a brilliant goal by Paul Smyth to break through in the second half and an unfortunate Ali Smith own goal coming just before the end. While Smyth remains a threat, striker Ruel Sotiriou will also need watching after scoring five goals in the last five games.

Sutton are now without a win in six games after Easter defeats against Stockport and Bradford, and look set to again be without skipper Craig Eastmond and winger Will Randall, who were both injured in the first of those two games. With some illness in the camp as well this week, a late decision will be made on selection for Saturday's game.

Referee James Oldham is making his second visit of the season to the VBS, having refereed the game at home to Bradford City in November. He has been an EFL referee since 2019.

Saturday's game has been nominated as a HerGameToo fixture where we will celebrate the role of women at Sutton United FC. Members of our women's team will be in the fan zone before the game, and at half time our Under 12 girls' team will be parading the Surrey County Women's and Girls' Under 12 League Cup which they recently won.

The fan zone, which as usual opens at 12 noon, welcomes back the Scandi Food truck from 1pm providing a taste of Sweden for Sutton supporters.

Leyton Orient have sold out their allocation of tickets for the game, but tickets for Sutton supporters are still on line here, price £20 for adults, £14 for concessions and £6 for juniors. Under 12 tickets are free if bought in conjunction with adult or concession tickets. Stand seats are £5 more in all cases. Tickets can be bought at the ground on the day, but adult and concession prices rise by £2 for tickets bought in person on the day, a rise that doesn't apply to tickets bought on-line, even on Saturday, and with a large crowd expected we strongly recommend buying on line.

We have produced a double programme for Saturday's game and Tuesday's encounter with Northampton, and this can be ordered, price £4 plus postage, by clicking here.

There will be a live audio commentary on our iFollow service. A match pass costs £2.50, while monthly passes are still available for £4.49. Overseas supporters can watch the game for £10. Passes can be bought here.

Match Previews

Match Reports

Match report for Sutton United 0 Leyton Orient 2

15 April 2023

Sutton United 0 Leyton Orient 2 (Sadlier 14, Smyth 26)

League Two leaders Leyton Orient moved to the brink of promotion with a result that followed the form book, although it took two superb strikes from distance, one aided by a stroke of luck, for Orient to condemn Sutton to a third consecutive defeat. Orient deserved their half time lead, which could have been more commanding, and although Sutton were much more in the game after the break the goal that might have sewn seeds of doubt in a side that had seen a two goal half time lead disappear on Monday wouldn't come, and but for Jack Rose and poor finishing Orient would still have added to their first half goals.

With Ben Goodliffe absent following the birth of son Archie on Friday night, Joe Kizzi partnered Coby Rowe in the centre of U's defence with Enzio Boldewijn at right back and a start for Josh Neufville on the left, and Neufville might have marked his return from injury with an early goal when the ball fell to him just inside the penalty area from a David Ajiboye cross but he shot over the top under pressure from Paul Smyth.

By then Kieran Sadlier had already gone close when he flicked a Tom James cross just over at the near post, but in the 14th minute he had another chance with a free kick some thirty yards put after Kizzi had been harshly penalised for a challenge on Ruel Sotiriou. Sadlier's free kick was almost perfectly placed, but only found the net off the crossbar and Jack Rose. If there was a touch of fortune there, the second goal twelve minutes later was unanswerable as James celebrated his 27th birthday by collecting a pass from Smyth and arrowing a shot, again from all of thirty yards, beyond Rose's dive in to the top far corner of the net.

There might have been more before half time, with Sadlier scooping a Smyth cross over at the far post and Rose denying Smyth with a good save after Sotiriou had played him through on the right, but the second half saw Sutton much more prominent as an attacking force and Lee Angol glanced a header from a Boldewijn cross just past the post. Omar Bugiel was also just wide with a shot from the edge of the penalty area after a Sam Hart free kick had only been partially cleared, but too often U's final pass was poor and several set pieces ended up disappointingly in the hands of Lawrence Vigouroux. They were almost undone by a long ball over the top from James that saw Sadlier beyond Boldewijn but Rose again saving well, and when Vigouroux collected one corner and launched a clearance downfield, a mix-up between Ali Smith and Neufville allowed Smyth to serve a chance up to Sadlier on a plate, only for a wild finish to send the ball over the bar.

More defensive uncertainty, this time between Kizzi and Boldewijn, gave substitute Charlie Kelman the chance to go through the middle but Rose was again up to the challenge, blocking the shot with his legs, but for all the endeavour U's were unable to take advantage of the let-offs as Orient finished the afternoon with a foot in League One, with a point at Gillingham on Tuesday confirming their promotion.

Sutton: J Rose, J Kizzi, S Hart, C Rowe, D Ajiboye, J Neufville(sub K Kouassi 74), E Boldewijn, A Smith, O Bugiel, H Beautyman, L Angol(sub D Wilson 74). Subs n/u T Dickinson, C Dundas, L Gambin, R Milsom, M Dennis. Booked: Angol

Leyton Orient: L Vigouroux, T James, R Hunt, O Beckles, E Turns, I El-Mizouni,, P Smyth, D Pratley(sub J Brown 77), G Moncur(sub C Clay 89), R Sotiriou(sub A Drinan 77), K Sadlier(sub C Kelman 71). Subs n/u S Sargeant, S Ogie, J McCart. Booked: James, Sotiriou

Referee: James Oldham

Attendance: 4,828 (1,493 away)

Above photo courtesy of Simon O'Connor, Leyton Orient FC.