Match Report

The U’s under-18s started their EFL Youth Alliance season in fine fashion, with a 1-0 win over Forest Green Rovers in Gloucestershire. Joden Trickett’s second-half header proved to be the difference between the two sides on a warm afternoon at Hartpury College.

Bobby Sheargold had the first chance of note in the match, firing narrowly over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area, while Rovers had the ball in the Sutton net twice in the first half, but were denied on both occasions by the assistant referee flagging for offside. However, it was United who would open the scoring early in the second half following a lovely passage of play, working the ball out from the defenders down the left-hand side for Adam Reeves to find the space to cross. Trickett met the ball at the edge of the six-yardbox to place a header past the Rovers’ keeper to give the Ambers the lead.

The hosts rallied in the final few minutes to find an equaliser, with Sam Roberts forced into a smart stop from point-blank range to maintain United’s advantage. Ultimately, the Ambers showed enough resilience to hold on for the win, something that pleased new PDP lead coach Rob Tuvey.
“Overall, I’m happy that they could see the game out, which is really important for their age group. I’m really pleased with the messages they’ve taken on board, particularly the off the ball stuff and the fact they changed shape and adapted to that – it shows good tools that I’ll be able to work with.”
Sutton:  S Roberts, C Lee (sub F Jaimison 61), A Reeves, L Moore, J Eccleston (C), D Urpens, G Vorster, B Sheargold (sub R Ruiz 68), V Tume (sub N Hepburn 89), C Bell, J Trickett. Subs n/u: C Fletcher, O Bello