Sutton New Town Athletic 2 vs 0 Westminster Wanderers B

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;" align="center">SOFCA&rsquo;S WALKING WOUNDED MAKE WESTMINSTER WANDERERS WONDER!

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">After some excellent results in recent weeks, Sutton were looking forward to another good performance, and that&rsquo;s exactly what they delivered, despite the squad being ravaged by injury and absence. This performance, by a team with a one armed goalkeeper, no recognised centre backs, two others carrying an injury and one back from injury after six weeks out was all the more remarkable.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">From the whistle, SOFCA went into attack mode, and had probably 80% of the play, almost all in the opposing half. They were running rings around the opposition, with some terrific moves, but as in recent weeks, failed to hit the target with a hatful of good chances falling mostly to Nathan and Ben D. When the breakthrough came on 23 minutes, it was a soft tap in for Ben Donaldson after the opposition &lsquo;keeper had spilt the ball. 1- 0.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Still, any goal is a good goal, and SOFCA continued to press for more goals but again missing the target on numerous occasions. James Murray&rsquo;s first start caught the eye with some excellent runs down the left, as well as some strong tackling.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">On the odd occasion that Westminster attacked, the makeshift defence performed magnificently. Worthy of mention is Dave White. Despite a severe arm injury and not having too much keeping to do, which would have normally earned a match rating of 6, he marshalled his defence brilliantly to keep the opposition out so earned a rating of 7. &nbsp;&nbsp;

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The second half began with a few more attacks coming from Westminster, but the defence was strong, with captain Andy Dodson putting in a huge man of the match&nbsp;performance in an unfamiliar position of centre back. Another strong&nbsp; performance from the ever reliable utility man Luke George, help to seal the defence.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">SOFCA still had most of the game with the dynamic duo of &nbsp;Duncan Garnett, and &nbsp;Harry Simpson &nbsp;controlling the midfield &nbsp;, both setting up chances for the strikers and for themselves. Still no more goals came, and in the 65 minute John Edgar came on for Dave Henderson who put in a tireless performance after being out for six weeks.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The manager then made a tactical change and put James up front with Nathan, and immediately caused the opposition defence more trouble. The breakthough came in the 82 minute, with Ben D&rsquo;s cross causing chaos in the defence and James tapped in for 2-0. Robin came on for the final 8 minutes replacing the tiring but impressive Nathan. In the&nbsp;added on time&nbsp;Robin was inches from making it 3-0 but the game ended at 2-0.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Given the&nbsp; makeshift starting line up this was a terrific performance, and a good warm up for a tough match next week.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Man of the match: Andy Dodson

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Nearly man: Harry Simpson

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Almost nearly men: Luke George, Duncan Garnett, James Murray

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Report by Robert

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