WOKING 1 SUTTON 2
by David Parker
A great performance from Sutton who always looked the better team . Sutton survived an early scare in the seventh minute when a cross from ex United forward Nassim Akrour was headed home by Darren Hay but the goal was disallowed due to an offside offence. United started to pass the ball well which lead to a number of first half chances for the visiting side. On sixteen minutes Barry Laker crossed the ball into the area for the impressive Nko Ekoku to head goalwards but the Woking keeper was equal to the shot. Another passing move from Sutton allowed Danny Brooker to move into the Woking area and shoot at goal but the defender's shot went wide of the target. United continued to put pressure on a below par Woking defence with Dave Harlow crossing the ball into the area and yet again Nko met the cross with a header but the keeper saved well. In the twenty third minute the Woking defender Steve West fouled Nko out side the area and looked to have badly injured himself in the challenge. The free kick was probably about thirty yards out but this didn't stop Jimmy Dack blasting his free kick over the wall and past Darryl Flahavan only to be denied by the bar , Newhouse tried to turn in the rebound but his shot was clawed off the line by Flahavan. Three minutes later Dave Harlow played the ball to the feet of Aiden Newhouse , Aiden spun round and hit a low shot but again the shot went wide. In the thirty second minute Nko ran down the wing beating Miller for pace and then crossed for Sammy Winston to push the ball over the top of the defender and goalkeeper only to see his shot bounce off the cross bar. Just before half time Woking began to realise that they ,themselves, could attack and on the forty fourth minute Hay slipped the ball through to Akrour but Nas's shot went well wide . At half time Sutton should have been one or maybe two goals up but off target shooting or the crossbar had prevented United from taking a well-deserved lead.
In the second half Nko was replaced by Mark Watson and United started where they left off with Skelly's cross finding Harlow who's low shot was well saved. In the fiftieth minute Woking took a surprise lead when Akrour blasted a rocket that beat the out stretched hand of Howells . Woking only held the lead for only two minutes. Sammy Winston ran into the area ,looking to cross the ball, when he was brought down resulting in a penalty for Sutton . Sammy picked himself up to score the penalty sending the keeper the wrong way. Sutton only had to what another two minutes before they took a deserved lead , when Brooker played a short ball to Harlow who the found Dack , Dack then played the ball into the path of Newhouse who hit a low cross to Watson who managed to knock the ball over the top of the keeper for Sutton's second. With half hour to go Sutton almost scored a third when Sammy struck the ball toward goal for Flahavan to push on to the post. With twenty minutes to go United were reduced to ten men when Harford tried to boot the ball up field, he accidentally kicked a Woking player which the ref decided was violent conduct and sent him off the field. Brodrick came on for Watson to fill the hole in the defence left by Harford. United battled on until the final whistle. United players and fans celebrated the first league win of the century and the fact they are now only six points away from safety .
Elation A great win and performance
Deflation Another sending off
Sutton United 1 Howells 2 Brooker 3 Skelly 4 Riley 5 Laker 6 Harlow 7 Dack 8 Harford
9 Winston ( Barkley) 10 Newhouse 11 Ekoku ( Watson )
Woking 1 Flahavan 2 Miller 3 Alighieri 4 West 5 Smith 6 S Smith 7 Perkins 8 Hayfield
9 Akrour 10 Hay 11 Steele