Saturday 20^th December 1997

Ryman League Premier Division

A good-sized travelling support in a crowd of 1214 saw Sutton close the gap on leaders Dagenham with this important victory against their main rivals in the championship race.

Manager John Rains must be purring like a Cheshire Cat as he brought in Naseem Akrour for his first start of the season and it was his two goals that separated the sides after a tense battle, the outcome of which, was not certain until ten minutes from time. Andy Salako who has come in for some criticism from a large section of Sutton supporters probably had his best game of the season and was a constant thorn in the side of the home defence with his pace and quality deliveries from the right hand side.

Danny Ship had the best chance for the home side in the first twenty minutes his fierce shot just going wide after he had created the opportunity for himself with a mazy run. Sutton's First opportunity probably not coming until the 28^th minute when from a free kick Joff Vansittart won a ball in the air and John Ugbah only just failed to convert his flick on with the home defence flat footed.

However they didn't have to wait long for the opener as within two minutes they were in front and It came from what was a fairly promising Dagenham attack. Gary Howard got free and looked like he might get a shot on goal until a fine tackle by Danny Brooker dispossessed him. He released Andy Salako down the right and his superb cross was met by Naseem Akrour, totally unmarked, and he buried his header past goalkeeper Paul Gothard.

Paul Cobb did have one effort that just curled past the upright five minutes before the break but Sutton went into half time deservedly in front.

Sutton were under more pressure at the beginning of the second half and Barrie Laker and Gwynne Berry both went in the referee's notebook for tackles. Les Cleevely was called into action on several occasions and made good saves, the most notable from a David Pratt shot and a fierce drive by Danny Ship which he pushed away for a corner. Paul Cobb also may have done better when he failed to control a rebound after Cleevely had pushed out another fierce drive.

However it was not all one way traffic, after sixty five minutes John Ugbah made a crunching challenge in midfield, he released Salako down the right and Joff Vansittart was just inches away from converting his low cross and the ball was cleared for a corner.

Sutton made the game safe after eighty- two minutes when a comedy of errors from the home defence allowed Naseem Akrour in for his second goal. A high back pass from at least thirty yards put keeper Paul Gothard in great difficulty and his poor control presented the ball to Akrour who walked the ball into an empty net much to the delight of the Sutton fans behind the goal.

Akrour could have had his hat trick in the last minute but Steve Conner got back to clear his shot from the goal line. There were no further alarms as Sutton with this important victory moved to within two points of their rivals still with a game in hand.

They now face another important fixture against improving local rivals Carshalton Athletic next Saturday at Gander Green Lane. A large crowd is expected so arrive early.

The Sutton side was Les Cleevely in goal, Danny Brooker, Barry Laker, Gwynne Berry, Dave Everitt, Paul Clark, Jimmy Dack, John Ugbah, Joff Vansittart, Naseem Akrour and Andy Salako.

The unused substitutes were Matt Hanlan, James Virgo and Clive Gartell.