Sutton United punish misfiring Under-21s

Our Under-21s tasted defeat for the first time in the National League Cup with a 3-0 loss at Sutton United on Tuesday evening.

Lewis Simper’s deflected strike edged the hosts in front early on, but we responded brilliantly as Yusuf Akhamrich saw two attempts from close range saved and Damola Ajayi had a shot tipped onto the crossbar by an inspired Steve Arnold in the Sutton goal in a closely-fought first half.

Perhaps unfortunate to be a goal down at the break, Shaun Williams then struck six minutes after the interval which took the wind out of our sails and we never really got going in the second period as Harry Ransom grabbed a third in stoppage-time to see the National League side take all three points in Group D.

With two draws bringing penalty shootout victories in our previous two cup fixtures in the competition heading into the clash at the VBS Community Stadium, our young side faced arguably their toughest test yet against a side currently sitting seventh in the fifth tier after relegation from League Two only last term.

Only four days on from Friday's Premier League 2 win over Middlesbrough at Hotspur Way, Under-21s Coach Wayne Burnett made three changes to the side as Max Robson and Tyrell Ashcroft were given starts outfield and goalkeeper Luca Gunter returned to action for the first time since our inaugural game at Dagenham & Redbridge on 1 October.

Playing in front of a packed crowd in south London, the home side used a physical man-to-man press to deny us time and space to play in the opening stages and it worked to devastating effect to bring the opening goal eight minutes in. As we tried to play out from the back, Gunter's stray pass went straight to Simper who eventually profited after Vinnie Tume's blocked shot fell straight to the midfielder and his strike went into the bottom corner via a kind deflection off Max Robson.

However, we responded brilliantly to going a goal behind and put together some delightful attacking moves that should have been rewarded with an equaliser. Firstly, only moments after conceding, Akhamrich turned Ajayi's superb low cross straight at Arnold before the latter saw his swivelling shot tipped onto the crossbar on 17 minutes and Alfie Dorrington was denied by the goalkeeper's feet from the resulting corner.

As the first half wore on, despite enjoying the fair share of possession, we struggled to breakdown our opponent's well-organised defensive setup for long spells as Gunter was forced to tip over Rio Kyerematen's wayward header and Akhamrich - off the back of bagging a hat-trick against Boro last time out - was somehow denied at close range in our best chance of the contest in the 43rd minute.

On the wrong side of a competitive first half of action, we were soon taught a lesson for missing chances as the Us delivered the hammer blow six minutes after the restart when Williams stabbed home from close range following an intricate exchange between substitute Siju Odelusi and Nana Boateng down the right.

Deflated but certainly not out of the contest, some superb build-up play from back to front led to substitute Miracle Adewole crossing for Akhamrich whose shot went a whisker away from scoring a simply stunning team goal on 67 minutes which would have set up a tense finish. But, with that shot falling the wrong side of the post, it wasn't to be our day when Ransom made us pay as he turned in a set piece at the back post in the 92nd minute to administer our first loss in the competition. That result knocks us down a place to third on four points in Group D with current leaders Braintree Town our final group game on 7 January 2025.

Match data

Goals: Sutton United – Simper 8, Williams 51, Ransom 90+2.

Referee: Stephen Parkinson.

Venue: VBS Community Stadium, Gander Green Lane, Sutton.

Weather: Clear, five degrees.