Sutton fell to their fourth consecutive Ryman League defeat on Tuesday against a St Albans side that needed the victory to close the gap on leaders Aldershot back to a point, but who, having been given a two goal start by some poor defending, were made to battle all the way by a Sutton side who were never out of the game. Played out amid the theatrical surroundings of Fireworks' Night, it was a strange game, entertaining but also in some ways unsatisfactory, with referee Colin Rolfe failing to help proceedings with a mixture of apathy and a disregard for the laws that as a result made anarchy never seem that far away. U's had the rough end of two particularly crucial decisions early in the second half, but any sympathy has to be tempered by the quality of much of U's defending, which gave a lively visiting attack hope throughout, and the fact that a referee applying the laws correctly would have reduced them to ten men at the start of the second half. St Albans are rather too good a side to be given a two goal start, but in the 9th minute Rob Smith, for whom the night was to be a personal triumph, stormed past Darren Beale to reach Rob Gould's long diagonal pass, and thumped a low shot past Jamie Ribolla, standing in for the unwell Andy Pape and earning his second competitive appearance against the same opposition as his first in April. Three minutes later he must have feared for his evening as he was picking the ball out of the net again, this time after becoming involved in a dreadful mix up on the edge of the area with Beale and Ryan Palmer, leaving Smith to roll the ball in to the empty net. For a while it looked as though Saints could run riot, but Sutton survived any more mishaps and proceeded to give as good as they got throughout the rest of the game. Paul Honey had a goalbound shot blocked before Lewis Gonsalves pulled a goal back, nodding in Danny Bolt's free kick after Matt Gray had been fouled. Ribolla made one superb save as he tipped Smith's free kick on to the bar ,and the second half seemed set up nicely, but within a minute of the restart U's were up against it again. Stafford Browne went over under the challenge of a stretching Beale 20 yards out when only Ribolla stood between him and goal. Having decided that it was a foul, Mr Rolfe seemed left with no option but to dismiss U's defender, but didn't even produce a yellow card. Retribution was instead exacted by Smith, who this time placed a low free kick in to the corner of the net to complete his hat trick. As U's defence wobbled alarmingly Browne should have added a fourth, but again Sutton responded well and Matt Fowler was desperately unlucky when he ran on to a through pass and lifted the ball delightfully over Wilmot, only to see the effort ruled out for an offside decision against the watching Watson. Fowler's protest saw him join Scott Corbett, whose crime was also dissent, in the book, and his tolerance was severely tested two minutes later when the referee, some 25 yards behind the play, waved play on as Fowler was hauled down in the penalty area by Ryan Moran, and then also ignored the deliberate pass by a defender that Wilmot picked up. With players of both sides realising that Mr Rolfe's grip on proceedings hung by a thread the game became messy and fractious, and was almost put beyond U's reach when Browne hit the post from a right wing cross. Bolt saw a typically well struck free kick tipped over by Wilmot, but with fifteen minutes left concerted U's pressure, which was always more threatening when Gray was released from any defensive shackles imposed by his wing back role, ended with the persevering Fowler twisting and turning on the right of the penalty area before firing in a low cross that was bundled over the line by Watson with the possible help of a defender and the definite assistance of Wilmot. Once again, though, U's hopes were soon dashed as Rob Kean, just after drawing a good save from Ribolla, climbed at the far post to put in a header that Corbett blocked on the line, but Jon Challinor volleyed home the rebound. Even then U's might have had something from the game, particularly as an injury to Dominic Naylor reduced Saints to ten men, but Corbett twice missed good chances, slicing wide after some more good work on the right by Gray, and then shooting over from close range following a corner.
Sutton: Ribolla, Gray, Hollands, Palmer, Beale(Hanlan 85), Honey, Bolt, Corbett, Fowler, Watson, Gonsalves. Subs n/u Hewitt, Brett, Howard
St Albans: Wilmot, GouldEvans 68), Naylor, Campbell, Moran, Challinor, Oakes, Castle, Browne, De Souza(Mackail-Smith 64), Smith(Kean 72). Subs n/u Townley, Martin Referee: C Rolfe
Attendance 412