Ian Henderson’s last gasp winner condemned Sutton to a late, late 2-1 defeat at the VBS Community Stadium, as Rochdale took a huge step closer to the Enterprise National League title.

A goalless first half was dominated by the hosts, with Lewis Simper going close on a handful of occasions, with Sutton’s display a perfect blend of pretty football and defensive resilience, giving them the confidence to go toe to toe with the division’s best team.

Chris Agutter’s side maintained their level of performance into the second half, and Charlie Bell drew first blood with an outrageous finish, winding up for a powerful, arrowed strike that flew past Ben Winterbottom and into the top corner, giving the U’s the lead against all the odds.

However, Devante Rodney and Connor McBride both came off the bench to combine, the latter delivering a cross into the middle where the former guided a superb volley past Jack Sims and level things up a minute before stoppage time, from which Henderson completed the turnaround when he scrambled the ball over the line to send the away end into ecstasy, and soon led to tempers flaring as red cards were shown after the full time whistle to Agutter and Hayden Muller.

Defeat against Rochdale sees Sutton drop a place to 17th in the table, but will take heart from their performance and will be aiming to bounce back swiftly on Good Friday against Aldershot Town.

The U’s had to kick off life without Kai Jennings and Osman Foyo after the AFC Wimbledon duo were recalled by their parent club earlier in the week. Agutter made two changes to the side that beat Eastleigh last time out as a result, with Junior Eccleston coming straight back in following the end of his suspension, while David Ogbonna made his first start since the start of February, bringing a reshuffle that saw the Head Coach revert back to a back three.

Sutton made an encouraging start against the league leaders and got into a couple of promising positions early on. A short corner from Simper led to Ogbonna laying it off to Jake Taylor, whose cross evaded the head of Besart Topallaj but needed to be cleared to prevent a goalmouth scramble, minutes before Simper saw a pinpoint through ball cut out in the nick of time, with Brandon Njoku ready to latch onto it and race through on goal.

Sutton continued their positive start by producing some glorious football, with a neat move involving Bell, Muller and Njoku being followed by a slick flick from Simper, who later produced the first clear cut chance of the afternoon.

After Rochdale had gone close at the other end when Aidan Barlow chested Kyron Gordon’s cross into the gloves of Sims, Simper drove forward before curling a dangerous effort just wide of the near post, and was swiftly followed by another attack that saw Ogbonna get down the right flank before standing up a cross that proved to be too high.

The Dale then responded with Luke Hannant playing in Tyler Smith; Kwaku Donkor producing a superb recovery run to prevent him from getting in behind Edon Pruti, before Simper again went close to opening the scoring, this time from a dead ball when he struck a low free kick that Winterbottom was behind, and the Rochdale goalkeeper was called upon again moment later when Njoku latched onto a penetrative Muller pass before being denied, though the flag was already up for offside.

Rochdale were then almost gifted an opener, certainly their first real chance of proceedings five minutes before the break, as Ryan East pounced on a loose pass from Pruti before teeing up Barlow, who fired his effort harmlessly over the crossbar to ensure it was all square at the interval; Sutton the happier of the two sides having been on top throughout the first 45 minutes.

A half time switch from the visitors saw Jimmy McNulty opt to replace top scorer Mani Dieseruvwe with their oldest player, Henderson, whose first contribution was to get booked for a shoulder barge on Sims in an attempt to meet a Barlow cross from the left flank.

Two chances in a minute at the other end then saw the U’s break through Simper, who sent Ogbonna away down the right flank before returning the favour, leading to the Sutton number eight fizzing a powerful drive just wide of the far post, moments before he pounced on a loose pass from Ethan Ebanks-Landell, but perhaps snatched at the opportunity, with Winterbottom able to recover and gather a shot that lacked enough pace and power to trouble him.

Simper continued to be the architect of Sutton’s brilliant attacking play, causing havoc in the box with a dangerous cross towards Njoku that was cleared as far as Donkor, who drilled a powerful, swerving half-volley over the top, and was followed almost by a moment of sheer fortune at the other end as Barlow found space to deliver a curling cross that looked to have dropped into the top corner, fortunately bending on the other side of the far post.

This proved to be Barlow’s last contribution as he was replaced, along with Smith, by Rodney and McBride with 25 minutes to go, with Jayden Harris following the Rochdale duo in entering the fray as Agutter made his first change of the afternoon five minutes later, replacing Taylor.

It was the Rochdale subs who produced a quicker impact though, combining to produce the visitors’ best chance of the game when McBride’s cross met the head of Rodney in the middle of the goal, who dragged his effort wide, before another change saw Ed Francis replace Casey Pettit, ahead of two chances in a minute at each end which turned the game on its head.

First, Henderson latched onto a through ball before rounding Sims and poking it over the line, only to be denied by the offside flag, and was followed by a moment of magic from Bell who arrowed a powerful drive that flew past Winterbottom to give Sutton the lead in spectacular fashion, with a little under 15 minutes to go.

Rochdale quickly responded with a fourth change as John-Kymani Gordon came on for his debut, replacing Hannant, before a double change from Agutter saw Davide Rodari and Dubem Eze replace Ogbonna and Simper heading into the final stages.

And that’s where it all fell apart for the U’s, who were pegged back when Rodney again got on the end of a McBride cross, though this time he made no mistake with a well-guided volley into the top corner that seemingly saw the U’s secure what remained a valuable point.

But it wasn’t to be for Agutter’s side. Another late change saw Dan Urpens replace Njoku in an attempt to see out the draw, before Muller was shown a yellow card for a foul on the edge of the box, leading to Francis floating his free kick over the crossbar.

Controversy then surrounded the final moments of the game, with referee Ben Atkinson awarding a throw-in already beyond the amount of added time that was indicated, before signalling Callum Perry to move further forward ahead of his delivery, one which soon changed the course of the game.

Perry’s effort was cleared by Eze as far as East, who gave the left back another chance to whip in the ball – met by Dan Moss – who knocked it down to Rodney who got a toe to the ball, but Henderson was there to scramble it over the line to steal the points from the grasp of Sutton, breaking the hearts of the home faithful in the seventh minute of the five added on.

Sutton United: Sims (GK); Simper (Eze 86’) Pruti (C), Ogbonna (Rodari 86’), Taylor (Harris 71), Eccleston, Njoku (Urpen 90+2’), Bell, Topallaj, Muller, Donkor

Subs Not Used: Haigh (GK), Byron, Cashman

Rochdale AFC: Winterbottom (GK); Gordon, East, Ebanks-Landell, Dieseruvwe (Henderson 46’), Hannant (Gordon 82’), Pettit (Francis 73’), Barlow (McBride 64’), Moss, Perry, Smith (Rodney 64’)

Subs Not Used: Duku, Baptiste

Referee: Ben Atkinson

Photo Credit: Paul Loughlin