Date   13 August 2011     Competition   Blue Square Bet South     Attendance   1,200     Referee   Iain Parsons (Salisbury)

Lineup   1 Kevin Scriven 2 Simon Downer 3 Alan Bray Orilonishe 58 4 Karl Murray 5 Karim El-Salahi 6 Sam Page 7 Anthony Riviere 8 Tom Davis Kavanagh 58 9 Leroy Griffiths 10 Craig Dundas 11   Tony Taggart     74 Watkins 12   Fola Orilonishe   14   Craig Watkins     15   Jay Conroy 16 Romone McCrae 17 Tom Kavanagh

It took little more than a minute for Woking to deliver the first puncture to the excitement with which Sutton had been anticipating their return to Blue Square Bet South football, and 89 chastening minutes later U’s were left in no doubt as to the difference in quality between the top sides at that level and the top of the Ryman League. Widely regarded as favourites for the title, Woking did little to discourage that thought among those in the bumper crowd of 1,200, and the hope for U’s will be that they are unlikely to come up against opposition of that quality every week, but after all the optimism it was still disappointing to see them taken apart to an extent perhaps greater than at any time under Paul Doswell’s management.

The writing was quickly on the wall, as after just 70 seconds Elvis Hammond, who had contributed a crucial goal last season to Sutton’s title success before joining Woking, escaped the attentions of U’s defence on the right and crossed low for Dale Binns to score. The movement and pace of Hammond and Moses Ademola gave Sutton’s defence a torrid time, and worse should have followed within the first ten minutes when Ademola beat Simon Downer on the right and crossed for Binns, who headed wide when it seemed easier to score.

As U’s struggled to stem the flow Karl Murray was booked for his fourth foul of the game with only just over fifteen minutes played, and Alan Bray, who bore the brunt of Ademola’s pace, was also shown the yellow card for obstructing one dangerous run. The threat was best shown when goalkeeper Andy Little collected a cross and threw the ball out to Ademola, as in no time at all Ademola was bearing down on the Sutton penalty area and crossing for Jack King, who miscued his shot wide. When Hammond again broke in to the penalty area on the left he was only stopped by a combination of Kevin Scriven and Karim El-Salahi, the collision leaving both Sutton players requiring quite lengthy treatment, and from the resulting corner Mark Ricketts crashed a header against the bar.

There was the occasional glimpse of a threat at the other end, Adam Newton booked for a foul on Tom Davis and Little needing two attempts to grab a low Leroy Griffiths cross as Craig Dundas tried to force the ball in, but whenever U’s gave the ball away they were in trouble, and after a misplaced throw-in Woking broke quickly again and Hammond cut in to graze the outside of the post with a low shot. With Scriven also making a fine low save from Ademola U’s were grateful to reach the interval still in touch and with hope of better in the second half, but they needed Scriven at his best again within two minutes of the restart to save from Giuseppe Sole after the midfielder had burst through the middle of U’s defence, and there was a sense of inevitability three minutes later when King found space on the left and crossed for Hammond to volley in from close range.

U’s response was a double substitution, but it had little time to take effect before Sole produced a neat near-post finish from a low cross by Ademola, who had again made U’s defence look pedestrian as he reached a long ball down the left. The game seemingly secured, Hammond and Ademola were both withdrawn, and although Paris Cowan-Hall, signed on Friday, and Wayne Gray proved lively replacements U’s achieved a measure of control, and managed their first shot on target with just over twenty minutes to go, substitute Fola Orilonishe’s low shot comfortably held by Little. They might have reduced the arrears when Tom Kavanagh’s superb free kick went just wide with Little stranded, and when the keeper produced a smart reflex save to keep out an overhead kick from Dundas which would have provided a spectacular consolation, and it appeared that, while well beaten, they would keep the scoreline respectable. However with two minutes left Sole again went through the middle, and although a combination of Scriven and El-Salahi diverted the ball away from goal, they were both on the ground as Sole reached it in time to roll it in off the post from a narrow angle. There was still time for Cowan-Hall to tap in after Scriven had parried Gray’s close range header and round off the most torrid of afternoons for Sutton.