It was an afternoon to forget for Sutton United, who fell to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of already-relegated Ebbsfleet United.
Despite a very positive first half performance, in which they were perhaps unlucky to go behind, Ebbsfleet opened the scoring on the brink of half time when some quick feet by Alex Aoraha allowed him to slot the ball into the path of Ryan Carr, who made no mistake with a low volley from inside the area to give the hosts the lead against the run of play.
While Sutton will have hoped to brush this off following the restart, a curling Carr cross from the edge of the area seemed to be misjudged by Jack Sims and found Mustapha Olagunju at the back post, who tapped home just five minutes after the break to double their lead.
Lewis Simper did pull a goal back with a low drive from distance just a couple of minutes later to give the visitors a glimmer of hope, but two late strikes from Aaron Cosgrave condemned the U’s to a disappointing defeat against the bottom-placed Fleet.
Despite leaving Kent empty-handed, Sutton remain 12th in the Vanarama National League table, and will be looking to bounce back with a trip to Aldershot Town on Good Friday.
Three changes to the starting line-up saw Will Davies return to the XI along with Hayden Muller and Eduino Vaz, who replaced Kain Adom, Ryan Jackson and Alex Woodyard in a change in shape, while there was a place on the bench for academy graduate James Fennelow who was named in a First Team squad for the first time.
Keen to build on another late goal last time out, the U’s had the first sight of goal as Ashley Nadesan strode through the Ebbsfleet defence before laying the ball Davies, who had time to turn and shoot but saw his effort bounce off the foot of the Ebbsfleet defender, before a long ball from Tyler French eventually found the feet of the advancing Nana Boateng, who showed some neat trickery to make space for a shot before curling his effort inches wide of the top corner.
Lewis Simper then did well to win the ball back in midfield and play Boateng through, again showing nice feet to evade Luke O’Neill before scooping a delivery towards Davies at the back post, who saw his header claimed by Mark Cousins.
This preceded a first opening for Ebbsfleet, when a loose touch from French presented the chance for Carr who drove into the box and picked out Cosgrave, who failed to test Sims with a tame shot.
Another chance for Ebbsfleet followed though, as a dangerous low delivery from Josh Passley flew across goal and into the feet of Maxx Manktelow, who’s effort needed to be cleared off the line by Harry Ransom.
An early change for Ebbsfleet followed with O’Neill forced to go off and was replaced by Aoraha, and he would soon be involved in the opener.
A quick throw-in allowed Aoraha to find space to send a dangerous delivery into the box, with Carr sending a sweetly struck shot past Sims to break the deadlock on the stroke of the interval.
Ebbsfleet almost added a second to really rub some salt into the wounds, with George Moncur advancing towards goal before firing his effort just over the crossbar, and brought the half to a close with the hosts taking a narrow advantage.
The Fleet’s goal seemed to fall at the perfect time for the hosts, and it wouldn’t be long before they extended their advantage. Besart Topallaj was penalised for a late challenge near the halfway line, with the set piece being played short down the line by Moncur to Carr, who checked back inside before sending his delivery towards the back post, where Olagunju was well-placed to meet the ball before Sims and tap home a second goal.
However, the U’s were given a lifeline almost immediately when Simper advanced from midfield before drilling a powerful effort past Cousins and into the far corner, giving Sutton a chance to restore parity.
The hosts remained resolute at the back though, and went closer to scoring next when a curling cross from Ben Chapman met the Cosgrave in the box who headed over.
Cosgrave would soon see his name added to the scoresheet though, as a ball into the box fell to the feet of the Ebbsfleet attacker who slotted home from ten yards.
Steve Morison responded with his first change, opting to bring on Siju Odelusi in place of Vaz, but this failed to have the desired impact and was followed by a fourth goal from the hosts as it went from bad to worse for the U’s, with Cosgrave finding himself through on goal after a brilliant ball from Aoraha, allowing the Fleet striker to twist and turn in the box before placing his effort into the bottom corner.
In a desperate attempt to close the deficit, Morison looked to his bench once more and gave academy duo Vinnie Tume and Fennelow a last gasp opportunity, the former being rewarded for his positive impact on Tuesday night while the latter was given his First Team debut for the U’s.
Fennelow had a late chance to halve the deficit when he headed a corner inches over the crossbar, and was all the U’s could produce before the referee brought a close to proceedings.
Ebbsfleet United: Cousins; O’Neill (Aoraha 28’), Passley, Moncur (Harriott 80’), Edser, Carr, Chapman, Olagunju, Bolger, Cosgrave, Manktelow. Subs n/u Goddard, Poleon, Anthony.
Sutton United: Sims; French, Ransom, Simper, Davies (Tume 81’), Vaz (Odelusi 70’), Muller, Boateng, Wadham, Nadesan (Fennelow 81’), Topallaj. Subs n/u Kerbey, Jackson, Woodyard.
Referee: Declan Clark
Attendance: 1,295(261 away)
Photo Credit: Paul Loughlin
