Sutton United Under-18s were held to a 1-1 draw by Stevenage FC at Cheam Sports Club.

Josh Brian’s header was cancelled out by an equalizer for the visitors late in the first half, and despite the Amber ending the match down to 10 men, both teams came away with a share of the points.

Departing PDP Lead Coach Rob Tuvey was joined by Glen Nichols (Academy Head of Coaching) on the sidelines, who was pleased with the start the U’s made.

“We’d worked all week around our press and getting high up the pitch, pressing the ball and pinning them in, and for the first 25 minutes the intensity was there,” Nichols told Sutton United FCtv.

“Then in the last 20 minutes of the first half we’ve let them back in the door which was a little bit disappointing after the work we’d done. In the second half, I thought it became a bit of a battle. We had our chances and also showed our resilience which we’ve worked on a lot, and Rob’s been hot on that with the boys.”

After a half-clearance fell kindly for Charlie Bell, the U’s captain dropped his shoulder to create the space to play the ball into the path of Ned Hepburn. The forward’s cross was then met emphatically by Brian, who had stayed forward from the original corner and was on hand to open the scoring.

The Amber were then pegged back late in the second half, failing to clear their lines effectively before the loose ball was slammed into the net from close range by a Stevenage forward.

In the second half, Kai Morgan was tested on a number of occasions, notably pulling off a smart stop at his near post from a one-on-one opportunity.

Ned Hepburn received a second yellow card after diving into a tackle to try and prevent Stevenage’s winger from breaking into the penalty area, but the 10 men were able to defend resolutely to hold on for the point.

Sutton United U18s: Morgan (GK), Brian, Frost, Urpens, Reeves, Sheargold, Edwards (Ruiz), Bell (C), Fennelow, Hepburn, Bello (Edouard-Marisson)

Unused: Jamieson, Lowe, Agbandje

Goals: Brian

The Under-18s return to action on Saturday, December 6 when they host Gillingham in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.