MATCH REPORT: Sutton Utd 3-0 Wealdstone

It was an afternoon to forget for Wealdstone, who came away empty-handed following a 3–0 defeat on the road against Sutton United.

After the break, the hosts struck twice in quick succession, courtesy of Hayden Muller and Lewis Simper, which put Sutton firmly in control. Kai Jennings added a late third to compound the Stones’ misery.

Sam Cox made just one change to his side that was beaten by title contenders York City, as Junior Tiensia replaced the suspended Enzio Boldewijn.

The hosts came out of the traps with intent. Just two minutes after the starting whistle, Brandon Njoku darted down the left flank and fed the threatening Jennings who drilled a swift ball across the face of goal, but there was no onrushing teammate to apply the finish.

Dante Baptiste was forced into early action when Simper’s free kick ricocheted off the Stones’ backline and trickled goalwards, only for the goalkeeper to produce a superb fingertip save. Jennings pounced on the rebound, but Baptiste reacted sharply again to deny the U’s the opener.

Sutton remained on the front foot, as Jermaine Francis capitalised on an error from Tiensia and released Besart Topalloj down the left. His cross picked out Simper, but the attacker’s towering header drifted over Baptiste’s crossbar.

Wealdstone’s first major chance of the game stemmed from a Nathan Tshikuna strike that deflected off Sutton’s backline and fell invitingly to Anthony Georgiou.  The midfielder unleashed a thunderous strike from 30 yards, but his effort drifted just wide of the target.

Cox’s side looked to break the deadlock just before half-time as Olufela Olomola slipped a sharp pass to Dylan Kadji, who unleashed a powerful, goal bound effort, but his shot was clumsily denied by Jack Sims, who was left scrambling between the sticks.

HALF TIME: SUTTON UNITED 0-0 WEALDSTONE

Agutter’s side returned from the interval in the same attacking rhythm. Within five minutes of the second-half, Simper delivered a superbly curled free kick that found the rising Muller, who headered the ball into the bottom right corner to secure his first goal for Sutton and send the home side into the lead.

The U’s doubled their lead just two minutes later, as Simper controlled a long ball, cut inside and unleashed a sweeping strike into the bottom left corner.

In search of a foothold in the game, substitute Sak Hassan made an instant impact, as he threaded a slick pass to Tiensia on the left, who produced a bouncing cross that trickled inches wide of Jack Sims’ goal.

Minutes before the 90-minute mark, Sutton trebled their advantage as substitute David Ogbonna raced through on goal and struck the crossbar. His shot rebounded kindly to Jennings, who tapped it home for the U’s to rub salt into Wealdstone’s wounds.

Wealdstone will look to get back on track in just a few days time, where they return to Grosvenor Vale on Tuesday to host table neighbours Brackley Town in a 7:45 pm kick-off.

Wealdstone: Baptiste, Georgiou (Hassan 56’), Woodman, Kadji, Olomola (Adarkwa 67’), Obiero (Adu-Poku 80’), Hutchinson (Dixon-Bonner 80’), Tshikuna, McAvoy, Spencer (Agyemang 56’), Tiensia.

Subs not used: Johnson, Diarra

Attendance: 2,534 (220 away fans)