SUTTON United claimed all three points against ten-man Eastleigh at the Silverlake Stadium in the National League.
The U’s secured a 2-0 victory thanks to an in-swinging strike direct from a corner from Kai Jennings following the Spitfires being reduced to ten men after goalkeeper Nick Townsend was shown red in the 6th minute. The visitors doubled their advantage with ten minutes to go through Brandon Njoku as his low strike crept under the diving Josh McNamara in the Eastleigh goal.
The victory sends Sutton United 15th in the standings as the Spitfires remain 19th in the table just the four points above the relegation zone.
Eastleigh manager, Richard Hill, made three changes from the team that started the defeat to Hartlepool United on Saturday. Angel Waruih dropped to the bench with Kieron Evans taking his place in Midfielder. Both Archie Harris and Luey Giles are on International duty with Wales U21s so miss out with Jake Vokins taking his place in the XI alongside new loan signing Jayden Moore for his Eastleigh debut.
The visitors, Sutton United, made two changes from Saturday’s defeat to Truro City as Jayden Harris and Jermaine Francis make way for Lewis Simper and Jake Taylor who returned from injury to face his former side.
The opening exchanges saw both teams looking to get hold of the ball and take control of possession, with the visitors having an early opportunity as Osman Foyo was played through on goal. The forward looked to round the on-rushing Nick Townsend before Josh Lundstram was on hand to clean up defensively.
The Spitfires then found themselves reduced to 10-men as Brandon Njoku was played through down the left. As he raced to reach the ball, Eastleigh goalkeeper Nick Townsend came flying out of his goal and, in an attempt to win the ball, slid in and caught the Njoku with a reckless challenge in the eyes of the referee. Matthew Russell immediately reached into his pocket and branded Townsend with a red card in the 6th minute to reduce the Spitfires to 10-men.
From the following free-kick, the visitors nearly took the lead as Kai Jenning’s effort was denied by the woodwork, with replacement goalkeeper Josh McNamara rooted to the spot.
With their tails up, the U’s looked to make their man advantage count as they started to control proceedings and possession, and forced the first corner of the game. An in-swinging delivery from Kai Jennings evaded everyone and curled into the top right hand corner of the goal to give Sutton the lead.
Chris Agutter’s side nearly doubled their lead minutes later as Besart Topallaj controlled the ball in the area before finding space and unleashing a low effort across goal. Thankfully for the Spitfires, Temi Eweka was alert and slid in to block the shot, keeping to U’s advantage to just one.
As the game headed towards the 20 minute mark, the visitors were in the ascendancy as they looked to double their advantage. Following an a Sutton United corner, Josh Lundstram found Aaron Blair down the right flank. As the Eastleigh man reached the ball, United midfielder Kwaku Donkor came flying in, wiping Blair out in the process.
Much to the dismay of the Eastleigh faithful, Donkor was only cautioned by the referee as the visitors very fortunately kept their man advantage. Donkor was substituted just eight minutes later.
Following a frantic opening 30 minutes, the game settled down with neither side able to create any meaningful opportunities as Richard Hill’s side sat in defensively as they looked to keep the score as it was, with the U’s one to the good.
As the rain and wind swirled across the Silverlake, the referee brought an enthralling first half of National League action to an end with Sutton United having a goal and a man advantage.
Chris Agutter’s side started the second-half in the same manner they started the first, on the front foot, as they looked to carve out an opportunity to double their lead. However, the Spitfires defensive line stood firm with the scoreline remaining at 1-0 to Sutton.
The Spitfires then created a couple of opportunities themselves, having gone 56 minutes without a shot. Most notably through Harvey Saunders who saw his effort deflect narrowly wide of Jack Sims goal following a bouncing ball from a corner.
After a driving run down the left touchline from Jake Vokins, the Spitfires had a penalty shout waved away by the referee. Striker Aaron Blair played a first-timed ball over the top of the U’s backline for Saunders to run onto. The Eastleigh man was pulled down in the area with the referee waving the Spitfires’ shouts away.
With 20 minutes remaining, the visitors very nearly doubled their lead but Spitfires defender Temi Eweka was on hand once again to save Eastleigh’s blushes as he cleared the ball off the line and away for a corner.
As the rain continued, so did the pressure from Sutton United, however, it was the home side who created the next opportunity as Aaron Blair was brought down just outside the penalty area. Unfortunately, the chance was wasted as Jake Vokins free-kick flew high and wide over the cross bar.
As the game entered the final ten minutes, the visitors found the net once again through Brandon Njoku as they doubled their lead. The forward found space in the area and managed to unleash a low shot underneath the diving Josh McNamara to give Sutton United a two goal advantage.
Chris Agutter’s side came agonisingly close to putting the game to bed as substitute David Ogbonna saw his effort deflected onto the crossbar and away for a corner.
The home side nearly had a lifeline as Sutton United defender Hayden Muller sliced his clearance following a dangerous ball into the six-yard area. Jack Sims was thankfully in the right place at the right time to gather the ball and keep Sutton’s clean sheet in tact.
This was to be the last action of the encounter as the referee brought proceedings to a close following four minutes of additional time as Sutton United claimed all three points.
Match Stats
Eastleigh: Townsend, Brindley, Vokins, Eweka, Evans (McNamara 7′), Blair, Saunders (Tabor 84′), Lundstram, Effiong (Waruih 66′), Cousins (C) (Waite 84′), Moore
Red Cards: Townsend 6′
Unused Substitutes: Stone, Underhill, Killick
Sutton United: Sims, Simper (Ogbonna 68′), Pruti (C), Taylor (Harris 78′), Jennings, Foyo, Njoku, Bell, Topallaj, Muller, Donkor (Urpens 29′)
Goals: Jennings 13′, Njoku 80′
Yellow Cards: Donkor 21′, Muller 76′
Unused Substitutes: Haigh, Rodari, Eze, Byron
Attendance: 2015 (106 away)
