Left with if not a mountain then a very steep hill to climb by the concession of two goals in the first five minutes of Saturday's Ryman League clash at New Lodge, Sutton battled hard but never convincingly gave the impression that they could repair the damage, although they had as much if not more of the play after half time. There was much talk beforehand about the inclusion of veteran goalkeeper Andy Pape at the expense of Tom Dunn, one of two changes that saw U's alter their starting line up for the first time this season as Matt Hanlan replaced the injured Matt Fowler, but few could have imagined that just about Pape's first two touches of the ball would require him to pick the ball out of the net. There was little that any keeper could have done with either goal, as first Roy Essendoh powered in a header from a right wing cross to make it two in two games since joining from Bishop's Stortford, and then Richard Graham, allowed to cut in from the left unchallenged, punished U's with a terrific 25 yard shot that just clipped the underside of the crossbar on its way in. Despite being powerless to prevent either goal, there will still have been relief for Pape a few minutes later when he dealt confidently with a long range shot from Martin Carthy, and the game settled down as U's looked to recover from the double blow. They steadied things well enough, but only once before the break did they look as though they might reduce the deficit, when Paul Honey was brought down 20 yards out but Danny Bolt's characteristically well struck free kick was held at full stretch by Jerome John. Pape made one good save before the interval, diving to hold another Essendoh header, and right at the start of the second half Carthy met a right wing cross with a volley that flew just wide. After that, with the exception of one scramble following a corner in which Carthy's effort was bundled off the line, it was U's who had the territorial advantage without being able to capitalise. One series of corners ended with Lewis Gonsalves meeting Bolt's flag kick with a volley that was deflected over, but despite the introduction of Matt Gray and Nick Bailey they couldn't prevent Billericay completing a third clean sheet out of three at home this season. They should have done with five minutes left as Danny Hodges, pushed forward late in the game, headed across goal from a right wing centre, but Mark Watson failed to make the necessary contact to turn the ball in to the gaping net, and Bailey found the angle so tight that both he and the ball crashed against the outside of the post as he tried to rescue the chance. Billericay: John, Brennan, Kerrigan, Penn, Moore, Carthy, R Graham, Williams, Charles(Wallace 72), M Graham, Essendoh(Fewings H-T). Subs n/u Rantala, Henty, Fay. Sutton: Pape, Beale(Gray 62), Hollands, Palmer, Hodges, Honey, Bolt, Corbett, Hanlan(Bailey 70), Watson, Gonsalves. Subs n/u Shannon, Dunn Referee: D Margetts Attendance 559