report by Tony Dolbear
The largest crowd to watch a Ryman League game this season was well rewarded for braving the wind and rain on Boxing Day as Aldershot put seven points between them and the chasing pack and in doing so brought an end to Sutton's run of eight consecutive victories. It finished a lot closer than had looked likely after half an hour, when Aldershot led by two and Sutton were struggling to make any impact on the game, but as the half had worn on it became clear that the elements were having quite a say, and with the squalls behind them after the break U's produced a stirring comeback that could easily have produced a point. The home side were keen to put behind them Saturday's unimpressive defeat at St Albans, and started strongly, pushing U's back right from the kick-off. They converted this start in to a lead after just six minutes as Roscoe D'Sane, whose later naming as the 'Man of the Match' found little argument, cut in from the right and hit a low shot which took a deflection to bury itself in the bottom right hand corner as Andy Pape was left stranded. The home side continued to dominate the early stages, and Danny Brooker produced a fine clearing header from another D'Sane cross as Stafford Browne and Lee Charles moved in for the kill. In the 24th minute, though, Brooker's afternoon took a downward turn as D'Sane again crossed from the right, this time low, and Brooker could only turn the ball in to his own net, seeming to slip in the mud as he went for the interception. At that point it seemed as though Sutton could be on the end of a trouncing, but they reached the interval with no further damage thanks to a good save by Pape from Lee Charles, and some desperate defending as Charles and Matt Langston had shots blocked. Sutton had threatened little, with Danny Bolt having two chances to cause damage with free kicks, hitting one in to the 'wall' and blazing a second across goal, while Matt Fowler almost got in behind the defence once but was robbed by a fine tackle by Langston. The second half was a different story, however, as with the wind and increasingly heavy rain behind them they saw a two goal deficit as comfortably manageable. Three corners in the first two minutes underlined their intent, and then Nick Bailey had a header saved from a Bolt cross. When Bolt put in another cross from the left, though, there was no mistake as Fowler had peeled away to the far post and put in a header that Nicky Bull got both hands to, but which dropped behind him in to the net. It set the half up nicely, but Aldershot snuffed out the immediate threat as the game went through a tense spell in which Scott Corbett was booked for a bad challenge in front of the dug outs and Dean Hooper cautioned for his retaliation, a sensible piece of refereeing from the excellent Gavin Ward who could easily have over-reacted as occupants of both dug outs jumped up to have their say. Chances then came at both ends, Fowler meeting a Bolt cross from the right with a glancing header that was saved, and Matt Gray having a shot blocked by Anthony Charles inside the six yard box. Between whiles, though, Pape struggled to reach a Hooper cross that held up on the wind, and Lee Charles headed the resulting punch back against the crossbar. Nine minutes from time Bolt almost equalised with another inswinging cross from the right that was headed out from almost under the bar by Browne, back helping his defence, but the fine line between success and failre was immediately shown as U's lost possession from the resulting corner and Ben Walshe made an incisive run to deep inside the Sutton half before putting D'Sane through to squeeze a shot between Pape and his near post. It should have been all over, but to Sutton's great credit it wasn't as Fowler's neat volley from a Lewis Gonsalves cross went in off the post with three minutes left, and U's finished the game swarming around the home penalty area in search of an equaliser. Mr Ward's one misjudgement of the afternoon pulled Mark Watson back as he surged in to the area having shrugged off the foul for which play was stopped and Anthony Charles booked, and Bolt's subsequent free kick was deflected over. Aldershot cleared a frantic scramble from the resulting corner, and their reaction at the final whistle spoke volumes for their relief.

Aldershot: Bull, Buckle, Nutter, Langston, Hooper(Cousins 78), A Charles, Roddis, Walshe, Browne, D'Sane, L Charles(Gell 80) Subs n/u Moody, Holsgrove, Howells. Goals: D'Sane(6,82), Brooker(24,og). Booked: Buckle(41), Hooper(60), A Charles(89)

Sutton: Pape, Gray, Hollands(Akuamoah 80), Palmer, Brooker, Bailey, Bolt, Corbett, Fowler, Watson, Gonsalves. Subs n/u Honey, Beale. Goals: Fowler(54,87). Booked: Fowler(53), Corbett(60).
Referee: G Ward Attendance 2564