Report: Dorking Wanderers Women 1-1 Sutton United Women

The points were shared between Dorking Wanderers Women and Sutton United Women after a ferocious and breath-taking second half.

Both teams were evenly matched in the opening 10 minutes but it was Dorking who had the first opportunity to go in front, when Tess Allen was dispossessed on the halfway line.

It meant the Wanderers were through on goal, three against one, but one pass too many allowed Sutton to recover and as striker, Lucy Price, was ready to unleash a shot from 10 yards out, Allen lunged in for a goal-saving tackle, redeeming her previous mistake. 

Sutton were then gifted a chance of their own, as K’Shaela Burch-Waldron dispossessed a Dorking defender on the edge of the area. It put the winger, who is in search of her sixth goal in three games, through on goal but she couldn’t get the ball out from her feet and the home side were able to recover. 

A mistake seemed the only way either side was going to score in the first half, and after a period of Dorking pressure, the U’s were once again staring down on goal thanks to a loose touch from Morgan Wood but Eden Clark’s first-time pass over the top had a bit too much on it and Gabbie Williams couldn’t reach it. 

This was set to the last half chance of the first half but before the referee could blow his whistle, the home side gave the ball away again, allowing Beth Humphrey to swing a cross into the box.

It caused troubles for the left back, Imogen Cochrane, whose clearance bounced over her head into the path of Emma Spear but the right winger could only force the goalkeeper, Libby Stratton, to get low and pull off a strong save from a narrow angle. 

After a quiet first half, the second was chaotic, with a queue of chances for both teams. First, on the turn, Burch-Waldron was denied by Stratton, who was able to make herself big to keep the score level.

Moments later, Williams timed her run to perfection to beat the high of Dorking, leaving herself with only the goalkeeper to beat and after waiting for the ball to settle, she poked her shot goalwards but the American could only watch the ball go agonisingly wide of the left-hand post. 

Then, from the resulting corner, Sutton thought they finally had their goal, Humphrey getting a foot to a flick on at the near post but as she wheeled away in celebration, the linesman raised his flag to deny the U’s following a plethora of chances. 

At this point, it felt as if it would only be a matter of time before Lucy Clark’s side went ahead but against the run of play, Izzy Franklin whacked her 30-yard free kick into the top right corner, over the head of Megan Taylor, giving Dorking the lead. It was a special moment of quality from Franklin that her team desperately needed during a period of intense Sutton pressure, which only intensified as the game aged.

It should have been made a bit easier, though, when on the 60th minute, a late studs-up lunge left Humphrey in agony on the turf. It seemed a certain red card but the referee opted for a yellow, leaving Clarke furious after her left break was forced off with an injury due to the challenge. 

The tackles continued to fly as Sutton went in search of an equaliser. For a while, this feisty nature seemed to disrupt the U’s rhythm but as the clock ticked on, the more their dominance rocked Dorking and on the 85th minute, Gilbert-Lawal managed to get on the end of a Williams cross, prodding it on the half volley with her studs, but yet again Stratton was there to deny the away side. 

Dorking’s goalkeeper was a brick wall all afternoon, producing save after save, it was going to take something special to beat her and as the clock ticked into the 90, Williams was given a moment to breathe on the edge of the area, seizing her opportunity to fire a shot into the top left corner, leaving Stratton no chance of getting a hand to it. 

It was a goal that Sutton thoroughly deserved and with a chunk of time added on for Humphrey’s injury, the U’s nearly snatched a winner in an incredible sequence of events that had hands over heads and mouths open in disbelief. 

It began after a dispossession from Burch-Waldron on the half way line, leaving her two on one with the defender, instead, she went on her own, dribbling into the area, shooting with her left, down the throat of Stratton, who saved it strongly but into the path of Williams, whose first touch was perfect, but the goalscorer’s low driven shot was stopped by Stratton’s leg.

The ball then flew into the air, landing in the path of Gilbert-Lawal at the back post, and with an empty net, it seemed as if Sutton were bound to take home all three points but somehow the ball stayed out of the goal and Dorking remained unscathed. 

It was to be a fitting end to a rollercoaster of a second half, which would have left Sutton feeling hard done by on their short journey home. However, the point did mean the U’s remain unbeaten in their last six, with a trip to Barking next weekend. 

The development team maintained their 100% record at the top of the South East Counties League Surrey Premier Division, beating Croydon 3-1 at Collingwood Rec with goals from Rachel Marlow, Sarah Chapman and Tess Ciccardini.