Will Davies’ first half brace at his old stomping ground secured a first win of 2025 for Sutton United.

The former York City man opened the scoring after the last of a handful of Josh Coley chances led to an inch-perfect corner from Lewis Simper, who’s delivery flew onto the head of Davies to give Sutton the lead after 16 minutes, before a mistake from Malachi Fagan-Walcott allowed him to add a second against his former club nine minutes later with a powerful, thumping effort into the top corner that flew past York goalkeeper Harrision Male.

The hosts huffed and puffed throughout the second half in their search for a goal back, but struggled to break down a stubborn U’s defence. Josh Stones went closest with a glorious chance just before the hour-mark when an outstanding last-ditch challenge from Besart Topallaj diverted his effort onto the woodwork with an open goal to aim at, but the Minstermen continued to put pressure on and finally found a way through when Dipo Akinyemi turned home Ollie Pearce’s low ball with a few minutes to go.

In the end it would be too little, too late for Adam Hinshelwood’s side though, who’s title challenge took a wobble with defeat against the U’s seeing them unable to close the gap on leaders Forest Green Rovers.

As for the visitors, victory over York sees Sutton jump to tenth in the Vanarama National League table and close the gap to the play-offs to three points, with a National League Cup match against West Bromwich Albion up next on Tuesday night.

Three changes to the starting lineup saw Jack Sims return to the XI after recovering from a concussion sustained on New Year’s Day, while there was also a first U’s start for former Minsterman Alex Woodyard, along with a first league start since November for Eduino Vaz.

Highflying York have received many plaudits throughout the campaign so far, and showed why they have become title contenders with a rapid start at the LNER Community Stadium. Dan Batty forced Sims into his first save with just three minutes on the clock, as a fierce effort from the edge of the box brought a strong stop out of the U’s number one.

The hosts were nearly shell-shocked when a wonderfully picked out pass from Finley Barbrook penetrated York’s defence and put Coley through on goal soon after, with Marvin Armstrong forced to produce an outstanding last-ditch challenge to keep him at bay, and the Minstermen almost went behind in identical fashion moments later. Coley was once again played through on goal, this time by Davies, and this time managed to get a shot away, with Male making himself big to stop his low effort into the path of Ashley Nadesan on the edge of the box. The on-loan Gillingham man sent a tame effort that ended up at the feet of Simper who tried to divert the ball over the line, but he couldn’t get the desired contact as his effort trickled out of play.

Coley would then find a gap in York’s defence for a third time in quick succession and did well to exploit it to reach the byline. After winning a corner, the resulting set piece from Simper perfectly met the head of Davies, who added a sixth goal since the end of November to give Sutton the lead.

And it got even better for the ex-Minsterman, who added a second just nine minutes later in spectacular fashion. Nadesan was unable to control a long ball from deep from Coley, but his mis-control caught Fagan-Walcott out and allowed the ball to fall into the path of Davies, who picked it up on the edge of the box before unleashing a rocket of a shot that flew into the top corner and gave Male no chance.

With confidence and a two-goal cushion to boot, Barbrook could have added a third straight away with a first-time volley that he was unable to keep down, but nonetheless the U’s were looking comfortable, and defended strongly against a host of York attacks in their quest for a route back into the game.

The Minstermen struggled to produce much of note though, with Ricky Aguiar’s acrobatic volley on the stroke of half time the closest the hosts came to a goal back, before Coley drove a powerful effort off target at the other end in stoppage time. However, referee Paul Marsden called time on a dominant first half from a U’s perspective, going into the break two goals to the good.

A change at the break for the hosts saw Aguiar replaced by Cameron John, with York beginning the second half with two good chances to halve the deficit. First, Fagan-Walcott headed a corner wide of the target via a deflection, before Akinyemi rolled a tame effort into the gloves of Sims moments later.

This then preceded a golden opportunity for the Minstermen to get a goal back, and recent signing Stones will have been kicking himself for letting the chance go amiss. Akinyemi did well to slide the former Wigan Athletic man in on goal, before taking a touch to round Sims before seeing his effort cannon off the post with the goal gaping, with later replays showing Topallaj got a crucial final touch to deflect it onto the woodwork.

This was followed by two more changes for the hosts as Tyrese Sinclair and Ashley Nathaniel-George were introduced, while Steve Morison responded with a switch of his own as Woodyard was replaced by Nana Boateng on the hour-mark.

Boateng almost produced a near instant impact, with Vaz chipping a delightful ball into the substitute who ducked low to meet it in front of goal, but diverted his free header just wide of the near post.

The former Millwall man turned provider moments later though, with a superb run producing a wonderful whipped ball into the box that met the head of Davies, who came inches away from sealing his hat-trick.

Continuing their search for a goal, York threw the reliable Lenell John-Lewis on with 20 minutes to go, moments after Alex Hunt had seen a free kick from distance loop onto the roof of the net via the wall.

The hosts’ change was then caveated by a second change by Morison, who replaced Vaz with Hayden Muller in an attempt to sure up at the back, and was followed by the introduction of Henry Sandat moments later.

Despite taking a two-goal advantage into the final stages, tensions were set to be high against the title challengers and a late surge of pressure was expected from Sutton. One such attack from the hosts would lead to them getting an anticipated goal back at long last, with Pearce’s low ball into the box being turned home by Akinyemi on the goalline.

This will have injected some much needed impetus into the Minstermen at the death, with manager Hinshelwood throwing on former Chesterfield and Swindon Town man Jeff King, while Morison opted to replace goalscorer Davies and star man Coley with Dillon De Silva and Ryan Jackson, in an attempt to see out the victory.

There was just enough time for Sandat to fire a late effort into the side netting, but while he wasn’t able to squeeze his shot past Male, it did run the clock down slightly and briefly keep the ball away from their own net. As a result, Akinyemi’s late strike would prove to be all the hosts could muster despite nine minutes of stoppage time, with the U’s taking a huge three points back to South London.

York City: Male; Howe (King 90+2’), Hunt, Akinyemi, Pearce, Armstrong (Sinclair 60’), Batty (Nathaniel-George 60’), Aguiar (John 46’), Felix, Stones (John-Lewis 73’), Fagan-Walcott

Sutton United: Sims; French, Taylor, Topallaj, Vaz (Muller 78’); Nadesan (Sandat 82’), Woodyard (Boateng 61’), Barbrook, Simper, Coley (Jackson 90+5’); Davies