Sutton made it four pre-season wins out of four against Crystal Palace’s academy side, although the gloss was taken off another encouraging performance as Palace scored twice in the last ten minutes to give the scoreline more respectability after three goals in twelve second half minutes had seen U’s put the game beyond the visitors. The positives still outweighed any negatives, though, with Ashley Nadesan continuing his rich vein of form with two of the goals to take his pre-season tally to five.

There was a first appearance of the friendly campaign for Henry Sandat, who was involved early on as he diverted a cross away from the Crystal Palace goalkeeper with his hand, referee Paul Johnson spotting the offence, and then headed wide after Harry Phipps had headed on a long throw from Eduino Vaz. Palace went close at the other end when Matteo Dasi shot just over from twenty yards after being set up by Zach Marsh, but Sutton went in front in the tenth minute when a crisp passing exchange on the left between Adam Reeves, Kane Crichlow and Vaz ended with Vaz firing in a fine low cross, and although there were no Sutton players on hand,  the cross got the finish it deserved from Palace defender Jack Grante, who turned the ball in to his own net at the far post.

Lewis Simper went close to adding a second when he drifted in from the right and, as he had done fruitfully on a number of occasions last season, hit a left foot shot which clipped the top of the crossbar, while Vaz sent a 20 yard effort too high after Sandat had laid the ball in to his path, so Sutton reached the interval in front without having had a shot on target, but the lead was still deserved with Palace’s only threat a shot from Rylan Brownlie which took enough of a deflection to have Jack Sims scampering across to his right to make the save.

Sutton changed the entire line-up at half time, and were soon on the front foot as Jaiden White was fouled on the edge of the penalty area and saw his free kick diverted wide by Tyler Whyte, but they didn’t have to wait long for a second goal as Edon Pruti’s long pass from the back sent Nadesan clear to slot confidently past the advancing keeper. Four minutes later it was three, Jack Taylor’s far post header from White’s corner evading a defender and the goalkeeper on its way in to the net, and before the midway point of the half, after Palace had made all their substitutions, Nadesan had struck again, a right foot shot from the edge of the penalty area going in off the underside of the bar after Jayden Harris had done well to win possession as Palace tried to play their way out from the back.

For Sutton supporters the main interest after that was whether Nadesan might complete a hat trick, but chances proved elusive and the Palace goalkeeper’s only worry came from a towering Pruti header that he had to save to his left. There was also the possibility of U’s recording a fourth clean sheet in a row, but with eight minutes left Adler Nascimento’s looping header from a right wing cross saw the defence breached for the first time, and with just over a minute left David Aziaya did well to push away Jasper Judd’s excellent low cross but the unfortunate Taylor was unable to avoid the ball rebounding off him in to the net to put him on the scoresheet for both teams.

Sutton: First half: J Sims, D Ogbonna, A Reeves, W Tizzard, H Phipps, S Odelusi, K Crichlow, L Simper, H Sandat, E Vaz, D De Silva.

Second half: D Aziaya, A Jones, L Vincent, J Eccleston, J Taylor, E Pruti, J White, J Wadham, A Nadesan, J Harris, A Woodyard.

Crystal Palace: Triallist, J Grante(sub J Judd 59), T Whyte(sub C Okoli 59), C Walker-Smith(sub Z Henry 59), L Browne(sub S Somade H-T), K-R Adams-Collman(sub S Williams 59), J Drake-Thomas(Sub D Reid 59), J Gibbard(sub A Nascimento 59), Z Marsh(sub J Umolu 59), M Dasi(sub D Benamar 59), R Brownlie(sub A Agbinone 45+1).

Referee: Paul Johnson

Attendance: 711

Photo Credit: Paul Loughlin