Just over four months since a first round win at Merstham, and having progressed through the second round when opponents Walton & Hersham withdrew after two postponements, Sutton are back in Specsavers Surrey Senior Cup action on Tuesday away to Metropolitan Police in a quarter final. We will be in all amber for the game, which is a 7.45pm kick off and will be decided on penalties should the scores be level after 90 minutes. The winners are at home to Raynes Park Vale in the semi final.
We hope to have a Mixlr commentary live from Imber Court on our Mixlr service.
As at Merstham the game will be taken by the academy team who have performed so well in the EFL Youth Alliance this season, as manager Matt Gray explained: ''With the Surrey Senior Cup we always look at when the fixtures fall and what our situation is at the time of the game, and had we played Walton in the last round we were going to field a strong team of first team squad members, but having picked up a few little injuries over the past couple of weeks and given the forthcoming league schedule we can't run the risk of any more knocks and so we will allow the academy team to take the game and hopefully progress to the semi final. They were excellent at Merstham and it will be a good test for them against Met Police, and we look forward to seeing how they get on.''
Right back Roman Charles-Cook, who was one of two first team squad members to play at Merstham, will not feature on Tuesday after joining Harrow Borough, in the same Southern League Premier South Division as Met Police, on loan. Matt said: ''Roman has had good spells with Cray and Merstham so far this season, and this will be more valuable experience for him at a higher level.''
While Harrow are in the relegation zone in the Premier South Division, Met Police are in the hunt for promotion and Saturday's 1-0 win over a Chesham side that included Matt Ridley left Police five points behind their opponents, who currently occupy the last play-off place. Jon Nurse, who starred in Sutton's run to second place in the Isthmian League in the 2003-04 season, is on the coaching staff while Tuesday's squad could include Herson Alves, who made one appearance for U's in the 2016-17 season.
It will be the first competitive meeting between the sides since January 2008, when U's won 3-0 at Gander Green Lane in a third round tie. Extra time was played in those days, and all the goals came in the extra half hour through a Rob Hughes penalty and Harry Ottaway's first two senior goals for the club. U's last visited Imber Court competitively at the end of the 2009-10 season for a Surrey Senior Cup final, losing to Godalming, although we have subsequently played pre-season friendlies there, most recently in 2012 when Met Police won 1-0.
Admission on Tuesday is £12 for adults, £6 for concessions (over 65) and £1 for under 16s -cash only. For those that haven't been to the Imber Court ground before it is just off the A309 halfway between the Scilly Isles roundabout and Hampton Court. The post code for car parking, which is in Ember Lane, is KT10 8EG - we have been advised that Station Road in Esher is currently closed by Esher station due to bridge repair work. The ground is about 10-15 minutes walk from both Esher and Thames Ditton stations.