The decisive moment came early, as U's made a bright start and Kevin Amankwaah delivered a long throw in to the penalty area. He was actually the last Sutton player to touch the ball before it found the net, as the first flick-on came off Jordan White's head as he challenged Jamie Collins, and in trying to prevent the ball reaching Bedsente Gomis, Martin Riley could only divert it inside the near post.Manager Paul Doswell has been emphasising the importance of concentrating on the Vanarama National League for the next fortnight before FA Cup fever takes a hold again, and Sutton made the best of starts to the festive period with a narrow but deserved win that redressed the balance after they had been somewhat unlucky to lose the game at The Racecourse Ground in September. The nature of the only goal was even scrappier than the only goal of the previous week's FA Trophy win against Bath, but for the second week U's were up against opposition that failed to turn their promising possession into anything of real threat, and it was hard to recall Ross Worner having a serious save to make although the visitors could have grabbed an equaliser late on.
Roarie Deacon again looked the liveliest of Sutton's players and ended one dazzling run from just inside his own half with a left foot shot which flashed just wide, while Amankwaah and Max Biamou both just failed to connect with a superb cross from Ben Jefford. For Wrexham, John Rooney was persistent in trying to find a way through, and he twice saw goalbound shots blocked in the six yard box as the visitors began to enjoy slightly more of the ball, but U's ended the half on top as Deacon fired in a 25-yard shot that was beaten away by goalkeeper Shwan Jalal.
Sutton's main concern in the first half may have been the mist which temporarily threatened to roll in, but the visibility had cleared significantly by the time the second half started, and U's continued to be the better side without being able to grab the second goal. Matt Tubbs and Deacon both saw shots deflected just wide, and substitute Craig McAllister just failed to turn in a good low cross to the near post from Biamou, while Deacon enjoyed one other good run from deep but wasted the chance with a poor pass which was easily cut out.
The more the game went on Wrexham sensed that there was still a chance of returning to North Wales with some reward, and they pushed players forward, but their final pass was often disappointing. Nevertheless chances did come, particularly in the closing stages which saw referee Adam Bromley play eight additional minutes, but White could only stab a shot weakly at Worner after his first header had been blocked, while Riley sent a header just wide and in the last action of the game White couldn't take what might have been his team's best chance of the afternoon as he failed to make sufficient contact with a close-range header from a Jordan Evans cross.
Wrexham: S Jalal, M Riley, C Tilt, A Barry(sub R Evans 61), J White, J Rooney, K Edwards, M Carrington (sub C Powell 67), P Rutherford, J Evans, L Smith(sub R Pyke 61). Subs n/u C Dunn, S Harrad.
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