Goals either side of the break from Diogo Monteiro and Harvey Gray were enough to win Leeds United the National League, sealing a narrow victory over Sutton United despite Lewis Simper’s late volley.
Leeds enjoyed the better of the first half and broke the deadlock with a little under half-an-hour on the clock. Harvey Vincent sent Connor Douglas away down the right wing, who got the ball under control before sending a pinpoint cross into the path of Monteiro who swept the ball past Jack Sims to send the visitors into the break ahead.
Despite a positive period of pressure at the start of the second half, Gray doubled Leeds’ advantage ten minutes after the restart when a quick counter-attack saw Chadwick nick the ball away from Harry Ransom and find Vincent, who evaded Besart Topallaj before sliding a ball across the face of goal, where Gray was waiting at the far post to tap home the Whites’ second of the evening.
Sutton would soon set up a nervy end to proceedings though when a Dillon De Silva cross bounced in front of Simper, with the U’s midfielder firing a powerful volley past Rory Mahady to give the hosts one last hope, but the Whites were able to hold on at the death to win the first ever National League Cup.
Steve Morison’s side will now look to bounce back from defeat, hosting Woking on the final day of the season.
Two changes to the starting lineup saw Siju Odelusi and Ashley Nadesan both rewarded for their game-changing impacts on Saturday, replacing Alex Woodyard and the cup-tied Kain Adom after influencing a superb victory on the road. There was also a place on the bench for the returning Tyler French following suspension, while Will Davies captained the side.
With the chance of a first ever trophy in his coaching career so far, Morison will have been looking for a fast start against his former side, and will have been pleased when the U’s came out the blocks quickest. Ryan Jackson had the first chance of proceedings, with a rare effort at goal seeing him let fly from distance, but could only watch the ball soar over the crossbar.
Sutton seemed to control the ball during the early stages, but Leeds proved to be threatening on the break and saw them produce their first chance when Douglas showed good strength to beat Besart Topallaj on the right flank, before forcing Jack Sims into a low stop from a tight angle.
This was followed by a period of Leeds pressure, with Hayden Muller needing to block a Rhys Chadwick shot from close range. Leeds reworked the chance though, and eventually resulted in Alfie Cresswell drilling a shot over the crossbar.
Leeds continued to enjoy the better of things midway through the half, breaking quickly with Joshua McDonald going on a mazy run to reach the byline, before cutting it back to Vincent who was denied by Sims.
Vincent would soon start a chance that ended with Leeds drawing first blood, with the Premier League 2 side going in front just before the half-hour mark. The Whites’ number seven received the ball from Connor Ferguson on the halfway line before threading it through to Douglas, who sent a low cross into the middle where Monteiro was waiting to fire Leeds ahead.
Scott Gardiner’s side subsequently maintained their control for the rest of the half, and almost added a second through a Chadwick free kick which the young midfielder fired just over the crossbar.
However, Sutton nearly nicked a leveller just before stoppage time when an inswinging Jack Wadham corner almost flew all the way in, but this would be the closest sight of goal for the U’s before the interval, and went into the break with work to do.
A switch at the break saw Nana Boateng withdrawn in favour of De Silva with Morison looking to produce a crucial turnaround, although it was the Whites’ first half change that almost resulted in a goal moments later.
Oliver Pickles – who had been forced to replace McDonald midway through the first half – received the ball from the right flank before flicking it inches wide of the near post, and was followed by another free kick from Chadwick being fired into the wall.
This preceded another Leeds chance, with Kristan Moore this time looking to get in on the act when he headed a corner down the throat of Sims.
Sutton could have levelled things up moments later though, with a quick throw-in from Jackson finding Davies who went down in the box under a challenge from Rory Mahady, but the referee waved away the appeals.
This seemed to spur the U’s on though, with a whole host of pressure being put on their opponents. Davies again went close moments later before Topallaj drove down the left flank and saw his cross cleared away, with De Silva then getting involved for the first time since coming on. The Sri Lanka international jinked inside and out of the Leeds defence before going down just inside the box, with the referee again waving away any appeals for a spot-kick.
Sutton continued to up the ante on their home turf, with Moore needing to be called into action to cut out a threaded pass from Lewis Simper, which would have sent Nadesan away. Unfortunately, Leeds hit straight back, and instantly added their second of the evening.
Chadwick did well to beat Ransom to the ball with his challenge diverting into the ball into the path of Vincent, who raced forward on the right flank before brilliantly picking out Gray at the far post, who fired the ball into the back of the net to give Sutton a mountain to climb.
Looking to spur his side on once more, Morison opted to reintroduce French following his suspension, returning to action in place of Jackson, and the skipper was involved instantly when he saw a cross cleared away, before needing to receive treatment after his momentum took him over the advertisement hoardings.
French brushed himself off though, and almost pulled a goal back when his saw a shot deflected into the gloves of Mahady, before Leeds countered quickly and saw Vincent cut a ball back to Cresswell who his shot cannon off the crossbar, with Pickles firing the rebound into the ground and over.
This was followed by another couple of chance at the other end with Nadesan finding himself through on goal, only to send a tame effort into the gloves of Mahady, before Davies fired a powerful shot into a Leeds defender, and preceded Muller going on a mazy run before sliding the ball through to Davies, who couldn’t beat Mahady to the ball.
The U’s amped up the pressure even more in the latter stages though, with Simper combining nicely with Wadham before curling the ball just wide of the far post, and was followed by Sutton almost seeing a bit of luck fall their way when Moore diverted a Wadham cross towards goal, but the ball couldn’t quite squeeze inside the near post.
However, Sutton were given a lifeline when De Silva’s cross bounced in front of goal just waiting to be hit, with Simper halving the deficit with a powerful volley with a little over ten minutes to go.
Despite their best efforts though, it would be too little, too late for the U’s, with Leeds able to see out the victory and win the first ever National League Cup.
Sutton United: Sims; Ransom, Odelusi, Simper, Davies, Muller, Boateng (De Silva 46’), Wadham, Jackson (French 61’), Nadesan, Topallaj
Leeds United: Mahady; Douglas, Fergison, Monteiro, Debayo, Moore, Vincent (Snowdon 76’), Cresswell, Gray (Nfonkeu 90+4’), Chadwick, McDonald (Pickles 27’)
Photo Credit: Paul Loughlin
