report by Tony Dolbear

A largely forgettable game went the way of the side most in need of the points on Saturday when Victor Renner's volley midway through the second half gave Bishop's Stortford their third win of the week and lifted them out of the Ryman League Premier Division relegation zone. It was Sutton's first visit to the Hertfordshire side's new Woodside Park ground and was not one that will survive long in the memory. Sluggish after a two week layoff, Sutton never found any sustained rhythm and although they hinted at better things in the first ten minutes of the second half the promise subsided and in the end Bishop's just about deserved the points. Conditions weren't easy, with the firmness of the pitch meaning that the ball spent a lot of time bouncing almost uncontrollably and the situation made worse by the heavy rain that fell in the first half to give the surface an extra zip that it didn't really need. In fact there can have been few more turgid halves played this season than the first 45 minutes, with both defences well on top. U's had an early scare when Andy Aransibia dived to meet a free kick with a diving header that flew just wide, while Matt Fowler may feel he should have done better when Danny Bolt chipped a pass in to his path than lift the ball weakly wide. The one moment of real threat came twelve minutes before half time when Bolt conjured up a cross from nothing on the left by-line. After a goalmouth scramble the ball fell to Matt Gray, but he pulled his shot across goal and although it struck Mark Watson it was going too fast for U's striker to be able to divert it in to the net. Bolt, never really at home when the ball spends most of its time in the air, nevertheless looked the likeliest player to provide a breakthrough and when he did find some space just after half time his left foot shot from 25 yards was only just wide of the post. A Gray shot from similar range, again after a Bolt cross had been cleared to the edge of the area, was deflected just wide and for the first fifteen minutes of the half U's found some fluency. It wasn't sustained, though, and when an attack broke down on U's right midway through the half the home side countered decisively. Scott Forbes created the opening with a fine run on the left and a cross that was only half cleared, and Renner, the match winner against Billericay in midweek, proved so again with a volley well out of Tom Dunn's reach. There might have been a second three minutes later when Aransibia did well on the left before crossing low, but from close range Glen Southam's shot was somehow kept out by Dunn, who then gratefully collected Russell Williamson's mis-hit from the rebound. Dunn was grateful again soon afterwards when the ball ended up in the net as Renner challenged him for a right wing corner, but referee Russell Griggs, on one of the few occasions that he was close enough to the action to get a decent view, ruled that Dunn had been fouled. After leading at Sutton in November only to lose, Bishop's Stortford could have been forgiven some anxiety in the closing stages, and Bolt nearly produced a spectacular equaliser after Watson chested down a free kick, a 20 yard volley screaming just wide of the post. He was outdone in the power stakes by home defender Paul Kyriacou, however, who provided the last moment of note with a shot from all of 30 yards that rose just enough to clear the crossbar.

B Stortford: M Desborough, P Kyriacou, G Gwillim, A Riches, R Gould, G Southam, R Williamson(R Howell 70), R French, A Aransibia(T Paul 76), V Renner, S Forbes. Subs n/u T Langer, D Wolf, S O'Neil. Goal: Renner(67).

Sutton: T Dunn, M Gray, L Gonsalves, R Palmer, D Brooker(N Drew 81), N Bailey, D Bolt, P Honey, M Fowler, M Watson, E Akuamoah. Subs n/u C Brown, T London.

Referee: R Griggs Attendance: 365