Sutton United 2 (Angol 85, Smith 88) Swindon Town 1(Austin 14)
Having looked to be on course for a fourth consecutive EFL defeat at the hands of Swindon, Sutton were rewarded for persistence with two goals in the last five minutes to turn the game round and move U's back in the League Two top ten. Behind from the 14th minute when the experienced Charlie Austin's clinical finish gave the visitors the lead, Sutton had piled on increasing pressure in the second half but when Matt Dennis, one of two substitutes introduced with fifteen minutes to go, hit the bar seven minutes from time it seemed as though U's luck would be out, but two minutes later the other striker off the bench, Lee Angol, did find the net after goalkeeper Sol Brynn had failed to hold a Joe Kizzi cross under pressure from Ben Goodliffe, and in a thrilling finish Ali Smith's close range deflected volley ensured maximum points for U's.
Without the suspended Craig Eastmond and the injured Will Randall, and with Louis John still sidelined, there was return after injury for Coby Rowe as Kizzi reverted to right back and Enzio Boldewijn moved to the left wing, and in a bright start for U's Boldewijn had the ball in the net after seven minutes, following in after Brynn had parried David Ajiboye's shot but denied by an offside flag. However Swindon were moving the ball well, George McEachran impressive on his debut, and he was involved in the neat left wing move which ended with Frazer Blake-Tracey setting up Austin, who had space to fire a shot low past Rose to put the visitors in front.
Swindon continued to have the better of things but were unable to add to their lead, Remeao Hutton's header saved by Rose and Austin sending a left foot shot just past the post, and while Sutton occasionally threatened, Brynn was relatively untroubled, Boldewijn's shot deflected away by a defender before it could call the keeper in to action.
The second half saw U's increasingly on top in terms of territorial advantage but again shots failed to find the target, with both Ajiboye and Rowe having shots blocked, Smith seeing an effort deflected wide and Boldewijn just too high with a free kick. Indeed it was Swindon who came closest to a goal when, after Omar Bugiel had halted Saidou Khan's penetrating run with a foul that earned him a tenth booking of the season and a two match ban, Luke Jephcott's free kick was well held by Rose. The keeper also denied substitute Jacob Wakeling, whose stoppage time goal had proved the winner at the County Ground in September and whose first touch here saw him take advantage of a slip by Goodliffe and fire in a low shot that was well saved. Rose saved again from Wakeling soon afterwards, but by now the introduction of Angol and Dennis had given U's fresh legs up front, and Dennis should have equalised when Harry Beautyman's header fell for him twelve yards out but he smacked his shot against the crossbar.
U's frustration was short-lived, however, as two minutes later Brynn failed to gather Kizzi's cross under pressure from Goodliffe and Angol volleyed in amid claims from Swindon for a foul on the keeper, Ellis Iandolo's protests earning him a yellow card from referee David Rock. The force was now with Sutton, and three minutes later a Sam Hart free kick was cleared as far as Ajiboye, who beat Jake Cain before crossing and Smith's volley took a deflection off Iandolo to loop away from Brynn in to the net and spark wild celebrations among Sutton's players and fans
Sutton: J Rose, J Kizzi, S Hart, C Rowe, B Goodliffe, D Ajiboye, E Boldewijn, A Smith, O Bugiel(sub L Angol 74), H Beautyman, D Wilson(sub M Dennis 74). Subs n/u B House, C Dundas, L Gambin, R Milsom, K Kouassi. Booked: Rowe, Bugiel
Swindon: S Brynn, R Hutton, E Iandolo, T Clayton, G McEachran(sub R Darcy 78), C Brennan, S Khan, D Kadji, L Jephcott (sub J Wakeling 75)F Blake-Tracy, C Austin(sub J Cain 84). Subs n/u R Aguiar, H Minturn, A Kanu, J Copland. Booked: McEachran, Iandolo, Blake-Tracy.
Referee: David Rock
Attendance: 2,928(608 away)