Much to everyone’s surprise, our pitch was called on this morning so we were all looking forward to welcoming top-of-the-league Sutton to fortress Hampton. Our boys were pumped and if Sutton thought they were going to roll us like the reverse fixture, they couldn’t be more wrong! Early Hampton pressure set the tone and we would soon make a breakthrough when Jack slotted in Rushy, and with his first attempt saved, he made no mistake the second time round when slotting into the far corner, 1-0 and fully deserved. Rushy has now hit 20 goals for the season with 7 assists. That’s an absolutely outstanding achievement. Unfortunately we then lost our captain Ollie through some neck pain which was a blow, so in stepped Josh M. The Reds should’ve gone further ahead but the Sutton keeper found himself in the right place on several occasions, keeping out decent efforts from Omar & Rushy amongst others. Sutton aren’t top of the league for no reason and certainly showed their threat a few times in the first half, with some nice first touches they were able to get in behind a couple of times but the imposing figure of our number 1 Harrison must have been off-putting because they were wide of the mark. Right on the stroke of half time the ref awarded a penalty to Sutton, when Harrison and the Sutton striker came together. In my opinion Harrison clearly won the ball so it would’ve been very harsh… luckily the lino had flagged for offside anyway.
Half time, 1-0 but should’ve been out of sight.
The second half had Sutton come out all guns blazing, and they were soon level when their striker finished off a nice move. They would soon be 2-1 up when their striker slotted past Harrison and the Reds heads dropped a little and things became a little frustrating. We feared the worst when it became 3-1, Sutton had their tails up now and the mighty reds were finding things very difficult all of a sudden. The Sutton CB was having a strong game and we were allowing Sutton to have too much space in the middle so we certainly lost some momentum during that first 15 minutes of the second half.
Then up stepped Rushy, who had been switched to the right hand side moments before, who got himself 1v1 against the CB and turned him inside, laying it on a plate for Omar to slot home, game on! Hampton tails were now up, we had found the desire from the first half and it was soon 3-3 when Sutton handled in the box so we were awarded a penalty. Jack grabbed the ball and confidently stepped up, smashing it into the top corner… could we go on and win this??
Unfortunately not, it finished level and on the whole I would say that’s a fair result. The boys today were simply terrific, I’m running out of superlatives every time I write a match report. Sutton are a very good side, sure to be promoted and we gave a very good account of ourselves today, remaining unbeaten at home in the league with 5 games to go.
I apologise to Zach Sanders and Josh Powell, as they did not get as much playing time today as they would normally. I tell you what though, they stood next to me in that second half and cheered on their team mates, absolutely class from them two.
Everyone was excellent today, from Harrison at the back with JP & Kielan putting in their usual solid performances, Josh M had a cracking game on the right side. Jack, Harry Oscar and Fin all putting a good shift in and Omar notching his 3rd goal in 3 games.
Today’s man of the match though, without a shadow of a doubt, was Rushy. That assist for Omar was the changing point in the game, true Hampton Reds spirit. That’s Rushys 3rd MOTM of what’s been an incredible season for him, Well done Zak!!
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