Sutton United Women fell to a 2-1 defeat to Ashford Town at the VBS on Tuesday night. Having not played for two weeks since the U’s win over Ebbsfleet which also ended 2-1 in April, Lucy Clark’s side had the chance to go above Barking into 4th before their last league game. Ashford Town had already secured safety in the division with the bottom two being mathematically unable to catch them.
Sutton didn’t take long to get the attacking going. Inside 90 seconds, K’Shaela Burch-Waldron laid a low cross into Milly Cutler to tap home her 11th goal of the season. The fast start continued with Nadia Sabania escaping defensive cover but she headed narrowly over from a corner. Ashford to their credit stuck in to the game not long after as they looked to avenge a 4-0 home defeat earlier in the season. It didn’t take them long to respond with a lovely equaliser by Dilana Sucuoglu. A neat through ball from Charlotte Close found Sucuoglu who lobbed over goalkeeper Lizzy Knight into the bottom corner after 22 minutes. They didn’t let up, as Phoebe Head found room near the 18 yard area to hit a volley against the crossbar. Eventually Ashford’s second goal of the game came from the creator of the first as Charlotte Close latched onto a Ruby Maiden cross at the near post and put the visitors 2-1 up after 29 minutes. Sutton could have been further behind as Close got in behind again to score but the offside flag saved the U’s from further damage.
The remainder of the first half was mainly Sutton trying to get back into the game but they were limited to shots from distance that hardly tested Rose Mylam in the Ashford goal. The second half saw a change in shape from Lucy Clark to try and get her side back in the game. It didn’t change Sutton’s fortunes as Emma Spear squandered two chances, striking the side netting and forcing a save from Mylam from an acute angle. A bizarre moment occurred when Emily Oliver went down following a clash of heads and stayed down while Ella Meehan nailed a brilliant finish into the far top corner but the referee’s whistle had already gone by that point. However Sutton found Ashford on a good night and struggled to break down an aggressive and disciplined effort from the team in blue. Sutton utilised the entire substitutes’ bench with Cassie Chase, Sophie Modak, Amy Warren, Tessa Allen and Hannah Baptiste all coming on throughout the half but only Warren could muster a shot on target. For Ashford, Close had another chance to add to her impressive 27 goal season late on, but struck wide.
Ashford held out in the end for a hard earned 2-1 win which put them on to 23 points while Sutton remained on 35, one point behind Barking with a home derby to come vs Dorking Wanderers on Sunday May 10th , the last game of the league season. A win there will ensure Sutton finish 4th in the league which Clark stated post match would constitute a good season for Sutton.
That match is at the VBS Community Stadium with a 2pm kick off. Following that is a big Combined Counties Cup quarter final vs Chatham Town on Tuesday May 12th which is also at the VBS, kick off 7:45pm.
Sutton: L Knight, M Heavingham-Ford, E Meehan, E Oliver, B Humphrey, N Sabania, E Spear, P Langley, M Cutler, K Burch-Waldron, B Gilbert-Lawal. Subs S Modak, H Baptiste, T Allen, A Warren, C Chase.
Report: Ahmed Nur
Photo: Paul Loughlin
