It was 2nd v 3rd, Beacon v Sutton, the first meeting of the season of these two giants of the game.
Many would of been forgiven for thinking the game was off as we arrived to see the Beacon manager brushing the snow off the lines of the pitch. But it was very much game on.
Sutton were short of a couple of players but with their large squad they had ample ammunition to win this testing tie. The opening exchanges were lively as both teams were determined to close each other down. As the game settled so did Beacon as they started to shade the possession. But Sutton were well organised and solid at the back with Tom and Alex shutting out anything that came their way. Sutton were working extremely hard off the ball and when they did have the ball they broke quickly and decisively on the break. No more so than the 12th minute when Sutton broke up a Beacon attack, the ball was cleared to Nester on the halfway line who span and ran at the Beacon defence. In hot pursuit and support were Birch, Hussey and Mitch who caught up with the pacey Nesta. A brief passing exchange in the box, then Nesta pulled the trigger hitting a low shot in the bottom corner, 1-0, what a break! Beacon came at Sutton again but now felt the threat of the counter attack of Sutton. As Beacon pushed, Sutton held strong then pounced this time through Matty Birch who ran from the halfway line skipping past a couple of defenders and nearly threatened another goal. But towards the end of the half Beacon leveled. Beacon had a lot of bodies forward and unleashed a shot that was superbly saved by Jacob only for the lively Beacon forward to tap home, 1-1.
Sutton kicked off the second half but immediately lost possession, and barely 20 seconds later were behind. From the halfway line the Beacon midfielder produced a defence splitting pass to set up the Beacon winger to fire high into the net, 2-1. The lads brushed themselves down and valiantly fought back. Beacon had definitely upped their game as they looked quicker, shaper and eager to penetrate the Sutton goal. It was soon 3-1 as Beacon were able to run through the Sutton midfield with relative ease. Then it was 4, then 5-1. Sutton huffed and puffed but struggled to hold Beacon back but they showed why they are second in the league with an impressive second half display. Although this was Sutton’s heaviest defeat of the season the lads can take a lot of pride in the way they played. They were excellent 1st half and although second best in the 2nd half their heads never dropped and still played with a lot of passion, they were simply beaten by a better team on the day. But Sutton can take heart as they showed enough to warrant they too are good enough to challenge at the top.
MOM: Jacob (the cat) was colossus in goal. He saved Sutton many times and his handling was superb.
