Sutton eased fears of being sucked back in to the Enterprise National League relegation battle with only their second ever win at Eastleigh, opening a four point gap over the Hampshire side who remain in trouble and had to play 83 minutes with ten men and a substitute goalkeeper after Nick Townsend had been sent off for a foul on Brandon Njoku.
U’s recalled Jake Taylor and Besart Topallaj in place of Jayden Harris and Jermaine Francis, the latter on international duty, and were given a huge boost in only the seventh minute when Njoku chased a long pass down the left and was scythed down by Townsend outside the penalty area. Referee Matt Russell had little hesitation in producing a red card, with Josh McNamara on as a replacement and Kieron Evans sacrificed. The resulting free kick from Kai Jennings from wide out on the left clipped the crossbar, but six minutes later Jennings sent a corner from the left straight in to the net to give Sutton the lead.
U’s dominated the half against ten men but were unable to extend their lead, setting up several useful positions but then struggling to get their shots in, and made a change of their own on the half hour when Kwaku Donkor, who had just been booked for a sliding challenge on Aaron Blair which had Eastleigh demanding a red card, was replaced by Dan Urpens.
The second half followed a similar pattern with U’s having a lot of the ball but unable to find the finish, and the worry that they might regret not making the most of their position was heightened when a Harvey Saunders shot deflected just past the post.
Jack Sims had little to do, though, and U’s finally made their superiority count as substitute David Ogbonna had a header cleared off the line by Temi Eweka, Charlie Bell’s deflected shot was tipped over by McNamara, and Ogbonna then cut in from the right before slipping a pass through to Njoku, who finished crisply past McNamara. Before the end Edon Pruti turned a Jennings free kick just wide and Ogbonna’s deflected shot hit the bat as U’s cruised to an ultimately comfortable victory.
Sutton: J Sims, K Donkor(sub D Urpens 29), B Topallaj, H Muller, E Pruti, J Taylor(sub J Harris 78), K Jennings, L Simper(sub D Ogbonna 68), B Njoku, O Foyo, C Bell. Subs n/u Rodari, Eze, Byron, Haigh. Booked: Donkor, Muller.
Eastleigh: N Townsend, R Brindley, J Vokins, H Saunders(sub J Tabor 84), J Cousins(sub J Waite 84), T Eweka, K Evans(sub J McNamara 7), J Lundstram, I Effiong(sub A Waruih 66), J Moore, A Blair. Subs n/u B Stone, C Underhill, C Killick. Sent Off: Townsend
Referee: Matt Russell
Attendance:
