Ryman Premier League

 

                     

                          2     Heybridge Swifts        v       Sutton United     2

 

 

 

 

             Another game where Sutton were saved by a late equaliser after an eventless ninety minutes. Both teams found in hard to play any kind of passing game on an uneven pitch, which made it a frustrating game for teams as intended passes went to the opponents. It was because of this that there were only seven close shots in the whole game, which made the game very slow and difficult to watch.

            In the first half Sutton had the majority of the play but couldn’t make use of the final ball. But it was Heybridge who made their only shot of the first half count when Chris Payne was able to swing a cross in from the right, which led to a miss punch by Gareth Howells and was headed home by Kris Lee on twenty-three minutes. United could have been level straight away when a Danny Bolt free kick was curled over the wall and was plucked out of the air by Banks. With seven minutes to go Sutton equalised with the last shot of the first half. It was Dave Harlow’s excellent run from midfield and his great pass that unleashed Danny Bolt who let fly with a fantastic shot from the edge of the area, which curled and dipped over the out stretched keeper.

            The second half saw Sutton break passed the Heybridge defence but still couldn’t find the net or get a decent shot on goal. Swifts did come into the game more and had a few good chances in the final twenty-five minutes. The first was Chris Payne’s long shot, which almost dipped over Howells. Simon Parker also went close when his shot went inches wide of the target. Heybridge recaptured the lead with seven minutes left when a cross from the left was controlled and stabbed home by Adam Gillespie. Sutton pushed forward in search of a well deserved point and got what they needed when Paul Honey ball into the area fell to Whitmarsh who managed to knock the ball forward to Rob Haworth who found enough space to slot the ball home in the final minute of the game.

 

 

Elation              Sutton keeping going until the end

                        

Deflation           Slow and uninteresting game