Sutton United 1(Lakin 34 pen) Stockport County 3 (Madden 3, 30, 45+1)
Sutton's run of four consecutive wins came to a halt at the hands of League two leaders Stockport, who maintained their four point lead at the top thanks to Paddy Madden's second hat trick against U's this season. Madden gave his side the lead after only two minutes and added a second on the half hour, but it was his third goal, in first half stoppage time, that proved the most damaging for U's, who had reduced the arrears thanks to a Charlie Lakin penalty. Had U's reached the interval just one goal behind, with the advantage of the strong wind in the second half there would have been a real prospect of getting something from the game, but Madden's superbly taken goal restored Stockport's two goal lead and at no time in the second half did Sutton look likely to close the gap.
With Ben Goodliffe injured in training in the week having returned against Swindon on Monday, Louis John started a game for the first time since the end of January, but he was soon watching Stockport go ahead as a short corner on the left worked between Odin Bailey and Antoni Sarcevic ended with Sarcevic crossing to the far post and although Neill Byrne's header came back off the bar Madden tapped the rebound in from almost on the line.
Sutton responded well, with Harry Smith winning a free kick on the edge of the penalty area and Lakin's powerful shot being turned aside by Ben Hinchliffe, but after Madden had just failed to reach a low cross from Bailey he doubled his and Stockport's tally on the half hour after Sarcevic's quickly taken free kick found Kyle Knoyle in space on the right, and he pulled back a low cross for Madden to turn home.
Again Sutton looked to bounce straight back, and this time were rewarded as Josh Coley was put in by Harry Beautyman and barged over by Ethan Pye, who might have been lucky that referee Sunny Singh Gill didn't rule that it was denying a goalscoring opportunity with no attempt to play the ball, and was doubly lucky when the yellow card was shown to Ibou Touray instead. Lakin left nothing to chance with the penalty, giving U's real hope of a second half comeback with the advantage of the elements, but Stockport turned up the pressure at the end of the half and after Steve Arnold had saved well from Callum Camps, U's never cleared the danger and Knoyle set Madden up again, this time just inside the penalty area, and the striker hammered a superb shot beyond Arnold in to the top far corner of the net.
There was another blow for U's as the injured Lakin failed to reappear for the second half, which turned in to a masterclass in game management from Stockport, with Hinchliffe untroubled as Sutton failed on several occasions to get the ball in to the penalty area from promising positions. Indeed the closest to goals came at the other end as Isaac Olaofe, whose return to Sutton had yielded only a booking for kicking the ball away after an offside decision, saw a shot well blocked by Sam Hart, and Sarcevic drew a good save from Arnold with a twenty yard shot. Wrexham's late winner at Colchester prevented Stockport's lead at the top being extended, while providing U's with a rare positive from the afternoon, the Essex side still a point behind U's albeit with three games in hand, the first of which is against Stockport on Tuesday when U's will hope the leaders are as efficient as they were at the VBS.
Sutton: S Arnold, J Kizzi, N Adom-Malaki, O Sowunmi, S Hart, L John, J Coley(sub V Tume 90), O Sanderson(sub O Patrick 65), H Smith, H Beautyman, C Lakin(sub C N'Guessan H-T). Subs n/u M Kerbey, C Clay, D Moore, J Williams. Booked: Sowunmi, Kizzi, Hart.
Stockport: B Hinchliffe, K Knoyle, I Touray, E Pye, N Byrne, F Horsfall, O Bailey(sub K Wootton H-T), C Camps, P Madden(sub C Lemonhaigh-Evans 72), A Sarcevic (sub N Powell 82), I Olaofe. Subs n/u J Smith, R Croasdale, M Hippolyte, R Richards. Booked: Olaofe, Touray, Lemonhaigh-Evans.
Referee: Sunny Singh Gill
Attendance: 3,852(959 away)
During the warm-up on Saturday the players wore t-shirts to support the Children's Trust, the club's official charity for the 2023-24 season. A number of children from the trust were mascots at the game and a collection was held during the afternoon.
