Sutton United v Wrexham FA Trophy Saturday 12 Jan

[jencor]

Stuffed 5-0 according to Twitter!

[bornatotter]

Flattered them that score. Once again we paid a price for failing to make pressure and chances count early on when we started really well. As one Wrexham fan said to me when they scored with what was pretty much their first attack, we should have been a couple of goals clear by then. There second was killer. Looked like a foul to me early in the build up but that was that and fair play they showed their quality with two well worked goals just before half time and it was over as a contest. We started second half playing for our pride with bundles of energy and pressure and another couple of clear cut chances that we couldn't convert. Can't really blame them for easing off the gas but our lads kept going and it was one of those odd ones that didn't feel like the spanking in the final score even with their late fifth. Thought the ref missed a big call on their second goal and was inconsistent on his cards and fouls throughout and gave them the benefit. The major gulf in class today was the finishing. Good luck to Wrexham. Their lot are already talking about doing the double. We saw a clinical example today of how you can kill off an opponent just by quality finishing. On to the big one against CC on Tuesday. Go on Sutton.

[Andy K]

Oh...

Well lets look at the positives - the first 25/30 mins we really went at them, but we couldn't score. (Sounds a familiar story this season) - even after their first goal, which got a couple of lucky touches for them, we were still in it.

Then there was a blatant foul which the ref decided to ignore, all of our players stopped which gave them the extra yard to score a 2nd. At that point the team actually gave up and allowed 2 more very soft goals.

2nd half we showed a bit more metal, and looked much better attacking with the return of Craig Watkins, but still lacking a killer instinct up front. A 5th goal was inevitable as we pushed forward.

To top it all results in the league means we've dropped back into the relegation zone.

The lesson from today is that we can talk about challenging for a play off place and even if a miracle happens and we get there, there's no point. We cannot hope to compete at a higher level with the side we have. To me, overall, the squad don't have the mental strength to react to a disappointment, and I think that was evident today.

I don't want to be harsh on the squad today, because we were beaten by the top non league side in the country, who deserved their win. But with the exception of perhaps Eastleigh in the Trophy a couple of years ago, we've walked away from matches against higher opponents knowing that we did our best and did ourselves credit (regardless of the result). I don't think we can say that today in all honesty. There were moments of it, but if you have a 15 minutes like we did at the end of the 1st half, then you can't hope to compete.

MoM for me today - Rivs - did what he could to hold the midfield together who were getting pulled in all sorts of directions.

At least theres no long trip to North Wales this Tuesday!

[garethl]

Rivs really? Once they got ahead they overran us in there, 12 and I think 29 (ginger one) way too good. Shame we fell apart as going in 1 or 2 down would have kept the game alive and we could at least have had another go at the start of the 2nd. Strange to say it but I think our problems lie at the other end of the park. Perhaps time to go with the pace of Craig W and Marv and at least try and threaten in behind. Ottaway has become a bit of a favourite with the crowd but essentially just because he works hard. We need more up top. Anyway on to the league, we are still good enough to get up that league.

[doublebarrel]

To win a match like today's you need to have things go your way and in the first half they didn't. I have no idea, but people who were down the other end said the first goal was offside but it was clear from anywhere that the second goal started from a foul committed by Wrexham. And that was that. First twenty was pretty even but the second goal was all important and the turning point. Wrexham may well have gone on to wiin anyway but a very poor decision by the ref not to award the foul threw any plans we had into the bin. Perfect timing for them and disasterous for us. Take the medicine and move on.

[Andy K]

Yup Gareth, Rivs. Although I don't think any of our players had a really good game.

I do agree (and have done all season) - our problems still remain up front. We had a great spell in the first half when we could and should have scored. But we failed to capitalise on our dominance then and paid a heavy price.

I also agree with you about Harry - because he has come up from the reserves, there's a large section of the crowd who automatically give more kudos to players that do - plus you can't knock his workrate. But on what I've seen, on ability alone, he's one of our weaker forwards I think. Doesn't mean he doesn't have a place, but means he has to work harder to be in the first time, which to his credit he has.

[bornatotter]

On the Wrexham forum they are freely accepting that they didnt even the get the ball in our penalty area in the first twenty. That's a quarter of the game where we were dominant and Marv and beauts were subject to a succession of fouls. You can take a lot of positives from that but one massive negative, the failure to score despite carving out some decent chances. In a cup tie against possibly the best non league side in the country that profligacy is always gonna come back to haunt you and so it proved. Big style. The only player in a Sutton shirt to get the ball in the net today was my daughter jo attempting the cross bar challenge. And she was wearing Ugg boots.

[os]

Today was disappointing in that we didn't do ourselves justice and the idiot in black was quite frankly either useless or bent, I think at 4-0 Ladbrooks had him down as fav to score the next! I won't even mention the 6 1st half fouls around their box for which not a single card was produced?

Having said that Wrexham's 5 was a bit flattering, but our zero wasn't so we were never going to get anything out of the game. We failed apart from once when we hit the post to work their keeper as said above a all to familiar story of our season and its why we are not right up. I think we showed our midfield is good and despite shipping 5 we didn't defend too badly for the most part against a very mobile side. Not only that they did pass 500 mins of not conceding a goal to a opposition player so I don't think we can argue there?

I thought I would have a good watch of our final ball and last 3rd play in the second half more as a sort of neutral. And TBH its poor, unlike Wrexham who know exactly what they are going to do with the ball we have no idea get to the last 3rd and have a look. We send decent balls into the box to no one far too easily cut out by defenders. Most chances we create seem to be more of the self made type usually only a half chance and blasted anywhere except between the posts and under the crossbar. I think we have the makings of a side which can go one to one with the likes of Wrexham but you have to score goals and forever reason we are just not doing it?

Our pitch must be a major concern and worry to the management with that underground spring and water levels so high?

On another moan its about our local media and council started supporting the clubs in its town rather then touting others like Chelsea and AFCW who are not even in the same borough!

[mwynachlwb]

Firstly, thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Sutton United and the hospitality shown. You've got a great set-up there; Gander Green Lane has enormous character and charm, even if the pitch looked more fit for deck-chairs than football (credit, by the way, to your groundsman for getting the game on at all).

First half hour was entirely Sutton. Our first shot - a speculative effort from Rushton that sailed wide - occurred on 22 minutes and our first goal was our first shot on target. Mayebi showed why he's the best keeper outside the league with a stunning save to deny Ottaway. I recall saying just before our second that to go in one nil up was massively flattering. To then score three in five minutes reflects on a bit of meltdown for the home side.

But actually, in the second half, Sutton once again looked quite impressive. Again, you could have and really should have scored at least once, possibly even twice. I guess we had enough chances to extend our lead too.

Anyway, I'll take a flattering 5 - 0 win and quarter finals. Good luck for the rest of the season in your fight against relegation/battle for playoffs. Looking at the Conf South table, I can't work out which you're in.

While we're at it, your number 4 telling the ref he'd handled the ball late on in the game was nice to see. Credit to him. I didn't even think it was a hand-ball - he just fell over. The ref didn't either. Still nice to see there's still some sportsmanship in football.

[Amber Aleman]

Thanks for the post Mwynachlwb, and best wishes in the next round.

Today's match was a harsh reminder that, however well a side may play, it's goals that matter. When it came to converting chances, Wrexham taught us a lesson in clinical finishing. There's an instructive contrast with Salisbury City who could be on their way back to the Conference Premier but who had to rely on one freakish own goal to defeat us last weekend.

This game split into three sections. For the first 30 minutes Sutton had around 75% possession but (once again!) couldn't convert that into goals. In the next 15 minutes Wrexham scored four times. The second half, with the outcome settled, was end-to-end stuff in which both sides could adopt a more cavalier approach but which only produced one more goal and that in stoppage time.

Wrexham's tactics were spot on: soak up the early pressure and then pick us off in sporadic raids. There may have been a touch of fortune about their first two goals but for the next two our defence went AWOL. The fifth was just a postscript.

We can now concentrate on the league - and the SSC! - but have to ask ourselves whether losing in the play-offs might be the height of our ambition for 2013.

[markf]

After 30 mins, the thought of being 4 down at ht was, well, unthinkable. But that last 15 mins of the half was when our Trophy run went west, not helped by an awful misjudgment by a ref, who, I believe, wanted to call the game off and then produced an indifferent perormance throughout and missed the quite obvious foul on Harry O that resulted in Wrexham breakindg away for the crucial second. They upped it as we faded and it was all over.

Still that first 30 mins is something to be pleased about even if it failed to produce a goal & you would certainly not have thought the team in red were 40 odd places above the team in yellow in The Pyramid.

I thought the Wrexham fans were very good; supported their team, took the piss out of themselves for being Welsh & didn't resort to gloating over their victory. Nice to see and hear.

We should not be too disappointed but a tad miffed by the score line.

As for the ref, it is beyond me how some of these guys can get to this level & make such bad calls. It cost U's dear.

[tonyd]

I agree that in the end it was the quality of finishing that did for us, they were so much more clinical. However, the last time I saw us putting on a good performance was at Bromley, where we played 5 at the back and where Harry O and Marvin looked a good pairing up front. So why change it, particularly going to 4 at the back when we were playing the top ranked side in the competition, and with Marvin on the wing? If we need 5 defenders against BSS teams, it seems a bit suicidal to play with only 4 today!

[Juan]

For an alternative, match report, and post match antics, the blog can be found here.....

ganderm0nium.blogspot.co.uk/

[Stewart]

Jan 13, 2013 2:00:56 GMT tonyd said:

I agree that in the end it was the quality of finishing that did for us, they were so much more clinical. However, the last time I saw us putting on a good performance was at Bromley, where we played 5 at the back and where Harry O and Marvin looked a good pairing up front. So why change it, particularly going to 4 at the back when we were playing the top ranked side in the competition, and with Marvin on the wing? If we need 5 defenders against BSS teams, it seems a bit suicidal to play with only 4 today!

Maybe PD wanted more bodies in the midfield. If you lose the centre of the park you normally lose the game. For long periods the midfield did a good job. So maybe it was the correct decision. It is clear we have a problem in the final third. We waste the few chances we make.

[dave1]

Largely agree with comments of others. Having forwards who work hard and/or have pace is no substitute for forwards that hit shots first time and on target when chances arise. The Wrexham strikers today were their second string. I don't think that we create as many chances either as when we had the likes of Fola and Tony Taggart on the wings. I can see arguments either way for playing 4 or 5 at the back - but either way I would have had Michael Boateng starting if he was fully fit.