Sutton United 2 Dagenham & Redbridge 1

Salako 89 Shipp 30

Akrour 90

Sutton made more chances in this 90 minutes than they have in their last 5 games put together but they had to rely on two very late strikes to finally defeat a Dagenham side that rode its luck at times but having got so close to pulling off a victory will be disappointed not to have gone away with all three points.

 This win keeps alive Sutton's slim hopes of the championship alive and with Kingstonian's game at Oxford called off on Friday night their lead at the top has been reduced to six points. If Sutton can win at local rivals Carshalton on Monday then the game next Saturday against their championship rivals will be set up perfectly for a thrilling game in front of a bumper crowd.

 John Ugbah returned to the side in place of the suspended Steve Watson and Clive Gartell dropped down to the substitutes bench to allow Mark Watson to return in what looked a far more attacking line up than John Rains had put out last Saturday at Boreham Wood.

 And despite playing into a stiff breeze in the first half Sutton spent most of the time on top. John Ugbah had a header cleared off the line after ten minutes and a Joff Vansittart effort flew only just over when he had been put through by Jimmy Dack. Barry Laker had the ball in the net after seventeen minutes after Joff Vansittart had hit the bar but it was ruled out for an infringement by referee Martin Ebbage.

 Twenty two minutes gone and daggers captain Gary Howard went off limping and was replaced by Dean Parrot and three minutes later the Sutton should have gone ahead. Andy Salako had a shot brilliantly saved by keeper Paul Gothard. Joff Vansittart and Mark Watson both had shots blocked by defenders before the ball ran to John Ugbah and his drive was pushed onto the crossbar by the keeper and out for a corner.

 Apart from a long range shot by John Stimpson and a Paul Cobb shot that was blocked when goalbound by Gwynne Berry getting back to make up for a mistake by Les Cleevely, Dagenham showed very little and It was surprising when after 30 minutes they took the lead. A throw in level with Sutton's penalty area caught the home defence napping and Danny Shipp fired in a right foot after playing a clever one two on the edge of the box.

 Sutton went in one down at half time and must have been wondering how they were behind in a game they had dominated against the wind. Into the second half and it was again all Sutton. Andy Salako blazed over from ten yards, John Ugbah had a shot cleared off the line from a corner and Mark Watson hit the rebound straight at Paul Gothard from three yards. Twenty Minutes of the half gone and Mark Watson was again guilty of a glaring miss his header from a superb Junior Haynes cross going over the top from virtually under the crossbar.

 Sutton replaced Azeez Akinbolu with David Everitt with fifteen minutes to go and with eight minutes left the final roll of the dice as Mark Watson and John Ugbah went off to be replaced by Nassim Akrour and Clive Gartell. Paul Cobb could have sealed it for the visitors with four minutes to go, his drive from the edge of the box whistling past the upright after Sutton had given the ball away in central midfield.

However it seemed like the goals would never come, as and the tension inside the ground was obvious but nothing prepared anyone for the thrilling finale that was yet to come.

 Sutton piled on the pressure as the game went into injury time, Nassim Akrour had two headers go just wide but just as the cause looked lost they finally broke through. David Everitt crossed the ball in from the left, Nassim Akrour headed on and Andy Salako at the back post gleefully buried his shot past Paul Gothard. Dagenham could and should have gone back in front, Paul Cobb hitting the post with Les Cleevely badly exposed and Danny Shipp unbelievably put the rebound against the bar. The ball was cleared up field and landed at the feet of Nassim Akrour who teased and jinked his way into the Dagenham penalty area and hit an unstoppable shot into the top left corner to give Sutton a victory that had seemed unlikely just five minutes earlier.

 The Sutton line up was:

Les Cleevely, Danny Brooker, Azeez Akinbolu, Gwynne Berry, Barry Laker, Jimmy Dack, John Ugbah, Andy Salako, Mark Watson, Junior Haynes Joff Vansittart.

 David Everitt replaced Akinbolu

Clive Gartell replaced John Ugbah

Nassim Akrour replaced Mark Watson.

Sutton's next game is the local derby at Carshalton on Monday Kick off 3pm