Smith injury was turning point (30.11.04)

AN INCIDENT which led to Bryan Smith being carried off injured and to Sutton United’s crucial second goal was the main talking point of a mediocre encounter at York Road on Tuesday.
With the score at 1-1 on 54 minutes, Sutton’s Paul Honey put himself about in midfield to initially win the ball, however his control let him down and when he went into the next tackle for the ball, this time with Smith, his studs were showing.
The clash with the Magpies No.5 was enough to see the defender carried off.
In a bizarre twist, following the tackle, the ball ricocheted to Eddie Akuamoah who bagged his second goal of the game after rounding keeper Nick Hart. This incident did change the mood of the match and within 14 minutes Sutton had extended their lead to three.
However, this unfortunate occurrence cannot obscure the fact that, although the Magpies played their part in this relatively even affair, they did not create the openings of their visitors.
More to the point although Sutton, who are hardly in the best form either at present, only created a few chances, they put them away with aplomb.
In contrast a mixed-bag Magpies team huffed and puffed, but showed little of the quality required at this level.
But they did start the match on the front foot and were rewarded on 14 minutes when an excellent Matthews corner found a leaping Smith who nodded just inside the angle of post and bar.
In truth the first 45 minutes was dour stuff with Hart called into action just once, producing a fine tip-over save from Tony Quinton, before having to pick the ball out of the back of the net.
In the last action of the half, a deflected cross fell at the feet of Akuamoah and he had few problems scoring from 15 yards.
The second half came to life with the ‘Smith tackle affair’ and rumbled on after that.
On 63 minutes, with Sutton enjoying their best spell of the match, they extended their lead when a chip into the area by Matt Gray was met by the excellent Peter Fear, who nodded in from close range, despite being surrounded by Maidenhead players.
Five minutes later the result was sewn up when Akuamoah, although seeming to control the ball with his hand, played a square pass to Andrew Martin who in turn rolled it into the path of full-back Gray who was approaching at speed.
The Sutton No.2 let fly first time from the corner of the area with an unstoppable drive which flew into the top corner.
It was a stunning execution and underscored the visitors’ quality in front of goal.
Indeed the same player nearly repeated his feat minutes later, this time with his left foot, but the effort was tipped on to the bar and then palmed away by Hart.
As so often in these situations the team with nothing to lose finally comes out fighting, and on 84 minutes the familiar frame of substitute Andy Eaton was felled in the box, and the resulting penalty was hammered home by Jamie Cook.
The Sutton keeper, who had not been tested all match, was then found to be fallible as he had to scramble away a cross/shot from Ben Townsend, and then flapped at a corner but was saved when a defender on the line cleared the goal-bound ball.
However, this excitement from the hosts came too late to save the match or themselves from the inevitable recriminations.