Match Report

In a competitive affair at the EBB Stadium, strikes either side of the break from Lewis Simper and Josh Barrett meant it ended all square on Good Friday.

Sutton United drew first blood midway through the first half in style when they pounced on a loose pass from Aldershot, allowing Jack Wadham to combine nicely with Ashley Nadesan who teed up Lewis Simper. The U’s midfielder drove towards goal before unleashing a low, arrowed strike that nestled in the far corner, and gave Sutton a deserved lead.

Aldershot Town found an equaliser just 11 minutes after the break though, with a superb through ball from James Henry splitting the Sutton defence open to pick out Josh Barrett, who slid the ball past Jack Sims to level.

This meant that the U’s had to start again from square one as they looked to restore their advantage, and although they came close Will Davies and Simper, the Shots largely enjoyed the better of the second half, and meant it ended level.

A point in North Hampshire means Sutton remain 12^th in the Vanarama National League table, and face a tough test up next against the league leaders, with Barnet coming to town on Easter Monday.

Three changes to the starting lineup saw Hayden Muller, Eduino Vaz and Davies make way for Ryan Jackson, Siju Odelusi and Kain Adom, with Steve Morison opting for a change in shape that saw him revert to a back four. There was also room on the bench for the returning Josh Coley and Henry Sandat, who have missed the last few games due to injury.

Both teams will have been looking for a reaction after comprehensively losing last weekend, with Sutton falling short 4-1 to Ebbsfleet United, while the Shots were defeated 7-2 by York City. Although the hosts seemed to neatly boss the possession during the early stages, it was the visitors who produced the first real chances of note, having multiple attempts to take the lead in fairly quick succession.

First, the returning Adom did well to race forward and make his way to the byline before firing a tame effort down the throat of Marcus Dewhurst, before Nadesan brilliantly switched play to the other side of the pitch as he picked out Jackson from the left flank, who took a touch to evade the defender before being tripped by a late challenge in a dangerous position. Simper stepped over the resulting free kick, but saw his rising effort sail over the crossbar.

Simper looked to be the architect of Sutton’s early attacking play though, jinking inside and out of the Aldershot defence before sliding a low through ball that was cleared as far as Besart Topallaj, who drilled a low effort on goal that took a wicked a deflection off Shots’ skipper Aaron Jones to concede a corner. Sutton again almost took advantage, as Odelusi headed Simper’s delivery onto the roof of the net.

This was followed by another set piece opportunity, with Harry Ransom seeing a Wadham corner late due to it deflecting off Odelusi. The Sutton defender managed to get a shot off though, and fired wide via another deflection.

A rare chance the fell to the Shots when Tyler French had to be alert to meet a Josh Barrett cross from the right, and produced a crucial intervention to nick the ball away from the head of Jack Barham who was breathing down his neck.

And the Tommy Widdrington’s side will have rued this miss, as Sutton took the lead moments later in stylish fashion. After Aldershot cheaply gave away possession, this allowed Wadham and Nadesan to combine before the latter laid it off to Simper, who raced forward before stroking the ball into the far corner.

Sutton almost had two minutes later with the Shots unable to deal with their opponents, again giving the ball away and eventually led to Odelusi firing just over the crossbar from the edge of the box.

Although Sutton were in the driving seat, four minutes of added time allowed Aldershot one last chance to draw level before the break, and they almost managed it when they broke quickly through Barrett. The Shots forward countered at pace before checking inside and laying it off to Theo Widdrington, who played it across to James Henry who eventually won a free kick. Barrett then struck the set piece into the wall, deflecting into the path of Widdrington who dragged his effort wide, and meant Sutton lead the way at the interval.

A couple of snapshots moments after the restart saw both sides go close to scoring, and the hosts will have perhaps been the more disappointed of the two. First, Boateng found space to shoot from close range but fired straight at Dewhurst, before Aldershot went up the other end with a long ball over the top that Sutton were unable to deal with. The soaring ball fell to Barrett who drove forward and had a clearer sight of goal, but snatched at the chance and sliced his effort wide of the near post.

Luckily for Barrett, he would soon have another chance to level the score when Henry’s defence-splitting pass made its way through to him, and he made no mistake from close range to squeeze the ball inside the near post.

Sutton had been forced to make a change in attack moments before Aldershot’s equaliser with Boateng being replaced by Will Davies, and Morison opted to make another change on the flank moments after being pegged back, with Vaz being introduced in place of Adom.

However, Aldershot seemed to take the upper hand in the second half, and almost took the lead with 20 minutes to go when Maxwell Mullins sent a looping header just over the crossbar from Barrett’s free kick, and the Shots’ number ten almost turned from provider to scorer minutes later when he took his time to get a shot away, and saw it blocked from point blank range by French.

This was followed by Davies’ first contribution after coming on, seeing a powerful drive from the edge of the box charged down by Mullins. However, Sutton reworked the chance, with Vaz’s cross being cleared as far as Simper, who almost doubled his tally with a fizzing first-time volley that dipped just over the crossbar.

As the game entered the final ten minutes though, Aldershot began to increase the pressure, with Odelusi needing to be on hand to clear a low Luca Woodhouse cross, before a moment of controversy saw Dejan Tetek go down in the box, only to see the referee wave away the appeals for a late penalty.

A late change by Morison then saw Sandat make his return to action in place of Wadham, and he almost had an instant impact when Sutton worked it nicely in the box, eventually falling to the former Hull City man who took too long to get his shot away, before Davies dragged a powerful low shot of his own just wide from the edge of the box.

As the clock ticked towards 90, Aldershot came ever so close to scoring a last gasp winner, with Barrett forcing Sims into a crucial stop from close range.

Aldershot didn’t quite let up though, with Barrett, along with Barham both having chances deep into stoppage time. The latter came close first, firing well over the top, before the former sent a skewed volley that comfortably cleared the crossbar at the death, and meant it would be a point apiece at the EBB Stadium.

Aldershot Town: Dewhurst; Widdrington, Corbett (Thomas 68’), Barrett, R Jones, A Jones, Barham, Mullins, Henry (Tetek 79’), Woodhouse, Armitage. Subs n/u Van Stappershoef, Anderson, Bray, Ghandour, Uwakwe. Booked: Barham, Henry, Tetek.

Sutton United: Sims; Jackson, French, Ransom, Topallaj; Odelusi, Simper, Wadham (Sandat 84’); Adom (Vaz 69’), Nadesan, Boateng (Davies 55’). Subs n/u Coley, Muller, Tume,Kerbey. Booked: Boateng, Ransom, Davies.

Referee: James Durkin

Attendance: 2,609(331 away)

Photo Credit: Paul Loughlin