The U’s are back at home on Saturday, with the visit of Maidenhead United in the Vanarama National League.
Last Time Out
Sutton suffered a cruel blow in their trip to Rochdale AFC, with a deflected stoppage-time strike consigning them to a 2-1 defeat at the Crown Oil Arena.
After the U’s failed to fully clear the lines, the ball was pulled back to striker Devante Rodney, and his shot wrong-footed Sutton goalkeeper Jack Sims after taking a big deflection off a body in the box.
Earlier, Eduino Vaz had expertly levelled the scores with a well-taken right-footed strike after Ryan East headed the hosts in front.
Steve Morison’s side had chances to get their noses in front but in the end left Greater Manchester empty-handed.
Watch the highlights here.
The Opposition
Maidenhead United are the visitors to the VBS Community Stadium on Saturday, and will be looking to return to winning ways in their attempt to distance themselves from the relegation zone.
Established in 1870, the Magpies have spent their entire history in non-league but have remained in the top two divisions since 2007. Under the stewardship of Alan Devonshire, the Berkshire-based outfit have established themselves as perennials at maintaining their National League status, and are into their seventh year in the top division since returning to the fifth tier in 2017.
A 14th place finish in 2023/24 saw them once again retain their place in the National League, although they would finish just six points above Boreham Wood, who took the final position in the bottom four on the last day of the season. The Magpies have subsequently looked to add to their squad in the summer as they look to rise up the league table, and were certainly given a major boost by receiving a sell-on clause from Max Kilman’s move to West Ham United, with close to £4 million for the club coffers.
With major departures in full back pairing Zico Asare and Sam Beckwith along with midfield maestro Charlee Adams, reinforcements were certainly required in the summer, and saw the Magpies replace the latter with former Wealdstone midfielder Nathan Ferguson. He was joined in the centre of park by Oxford United youngster Joshua Johnson on loan, while Owen Cochrane, Tyrese Dyce, Miles Welch-Hayes and Thierry Latty-Fairweather have added depth at full back. Along with James Golding and Zac Bell making up the Magpies’ backline, Devonshire has also looked to bolster his ranks up front, with Joseph Ajose, Ruben Carvalho and Tariq Uwakwe arriving from Queens Park Rangers, Wingate & Finchley and Swindon Town respectively, and will hope this sees an upturn in results with the Berkshire-based outfit currently occupying the drop zone with just one win since September.
Recent Form
Maidenhead United 1-4 Forest Green Rovers
Maidenhead United 3-3 Derby County
Maidenhead United 1-2 Crawley Town
Yeovil Town 3-1 Maidenhead United
Maidenhead United 2-2 Oldham Athletic
Maidenhead United 1-1 Hartlepool United
The Manager
Alan Devonshire
Veteran manager Alan Devonshire is a highly-rated manager throughout non-league, and is now approaching ten years in the Maidenhead United dugout in his second spell at the club.
The former midfielder had made a name for himself as a player with West Ham United, making more than 350 appearances for the Hammers between the 1970s and 1990s before hanging up his boots in 1992 following a brief stint at Watford.
He would later make the transition into coaching with spells at Osterley and Brentford Women, before commencing his first stint at York Road when he joined Maidenhead as manager in 1996. Under Devonshire’s reign, the Magpies ended a 27-year trophy drought by winning the Isthmian League Full Members Cup in 1996/97 and earned a historic promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division after a third-place finish three years later. Devonshire also guided the club to four Berks & Bucks Senior Cups over the span of just five years, going back-to-back twice, and his feats at York Road saw him into the Maidenhead United Hall of Fame in January 2010.
After seven extremely successful years in Berkshire, Devonshire opted to follow Chairman Roger Coombs out the door in 2003, and later took over at Hampton & Richmond Borough. Another successful stint saw him guide the club from the Isthmian League Division One South to the Conference South over four years, and competed for promotion to the Conference National in their debut season in the sixth tier, before another four-year spell at Braintree Town saw him cement the Iron’s place in the Conference National having joined after their promotion to the fifth tier.
Devonshire would return to York Road in 2015 though, and continued where he left off in Berkshire with a draw against League Two side Port Vale on his return, forcing a replay in the FA Cup First Round. The Magpies would go on to win the National League South title in 2017 with Devonshire being named the division’s Manager of the Season, as well as winning another Berks & Bucks Senior Cup.
The 68-year old has subsequently kept the Magpies in the National League ever since, and made his 800th appearances in sole charge of Maidenhead back in August.
One to Watch
Shawn McCoulsky
Shawn McCoulsky is the main threat up top for the Magpies, and has been a mainstay in the team throughout the season so far.
The 27-year old began his career at Dulwich Hamlet, and after a loan spell at Walton Casuals, joined Bristol City in 2015. McCoulsky would spent four years at Ashton Gate, although he primarily spent time out on loan with stints at Weston-super-Mare, Torquay United, Bath City, Newport County and Southend United. He made a permanent departure from the Robins in 2019, but remained in the South West with Forest Green Rovers where he made 21 appearances.
After two years at The New Lawn – which also included loans at Bromley and FC Halifax Town – the forward joined Colchester United in 2021, playing a handful of times before making a move again, and joined Maidenhead United in January 2022 initially on a short-term deal until the end of the season.
He is now into his fourth season at York Road, with four goals in all competitions this season increasing his overall tally to 15.
Head-to-Head
Maidenhead United 0-3 Sutton United (15/05/2021)
Sutton United 3-0 Maidenhead United (03/10/2020)
Sutton United 0-3 Maidenhead United (31/08/2019)
Maidenhead United 1-0 Sutton United (09/03/2019)
Sutton United 0-1 Maidenhead United (24/11/2018)
Maidenhead United 2-1 Sutton United (17/04/2018)
Played for Both
Tobi Sho-Silva
Forward Tobi Sho-Silva enjoyed a fruitful stint at the VBS Community Stadium, contributing to the U’s title-winning campaign in 2020/21.
The Charlton Athletic academy product joined Sutton following his release from FC Halifax Town in 2020, and went on to score four times in 35 Vanarama National League appearances to help fire the U’s to their first ever promotion to League Two.
Sho-Silva would feature a further seven times in the EFL as well as making four appearances in the EFL Trophy as Matt Gray’s side reached the Final at Wembley Stadium, but would depart South London before having the chance to contribute in the latter’s stages of the competition, as he made the switch to fellow League Two side Carlisle United during the January transfer window.
The 29-year old would make just five starts in Cumbria though, and returned to the fifth tier when he joined Maidenhead United ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, and has scored five goals in 30 National League appearances for the Magpies.
Team News
Jayden Harris is set to miss the rest of the season due to a ruptured Achilles sustained last weekend against Rochdale, and could remain absent for up to nine months.
Edwin Agbaje had also been replaced at the Crown Oil Arena after pulling up with the same hamstring problem that he has been struggling with throughout the season, and has once again returned to his parent club in order to continue his recovery.
Lewis Simper is still a few of weeks away from a full return after going off last month against Oldham Athletic, but is making good progress.
Dillon De Silva will be unavailable for Saturday’s match after being selected by Sri Lanka for two FIFA International Series matches against Yemen.
On a more positive note, Harry Ransom has returned to full training after being absent since September, while Ryan Jackson is back on the grass after picking up a bruised retina against Southend United.
Steve Morison has also been given extra cover in midfield with Jack Wadham returning early from his loan spell at Worthing during the week, and is available for selection on Saturday.
You can watch Morison’s full pre-match interview here.
Officials
Alan Dale is the man in the middle on Saturday. Making his second visit to the ground this month, he was fourth official for the Emirates FA Cup tie against Birmingham City having taken charge of Harborough Town’s visit to Tonbridge Angels the previous day. The Suffolk-based official has been a National League referee since 2017.
How to Follow
Video
Due to the international break, both UK-based as well as overseas supporters can watch a live stream on National League TV, by a purchasing a match pass here for £9.99.
Following the announcement of the multi-year partnership this summer, DAZN have been producing the feature fixtures in the Vanarama National League for broadcast on nationalleaguetv.com so far this season, but as of Thursday 7 November 2024, DAZN is the new home of National League TV.
From this weekend forward, all Vanarama National League games which are broadcast will be available on DAZN. Subscriptions are now available to purchase directly through DAZN who will continue to produce and stream all National League matches, as well as a significant selection of top games from National League North and National League South.
For more information, click here.
Audio
UK-based supporters will be able to listen to all the action, with a Mixlr audio commentary being available and will be posted on social media accounts before kick-off.
At the VBS
Advance online prices for ground admission are as follows:
Adults: £21
Concessions (age over 60/students with current ID): £15
Junior (age 14-18): £7
Under-14s: Free if accompanied by adult or senior concession
Seat prices are £4 more in all cases. Supporters are reminded that these cheaper advance prices are available up to kick-off, and while tickets will be available on the day, tickets bought in person on the day carry a price increase of £2.
We are also offering our season ticket holders the chance to bring up to two friends to the game at a discounted price of £10 per person. For ground admission tickets at this discount are £10 for adults and concessions and £7 for juniors, with under-14s admitted free. Seat prices are £10 for all categories apart from under-14s, which are £4.
Click here to purchase a ticket.
Kit Watch
The U’s will be wearing their amber home kit. You can purchase a replica version here.
