Blue Square Conference South Saturday 19 April 2008 - Twerton Park - kick off 3.00pm

Report taken from

City were unchanged from the side that beat Thurrock in midweek and started on the front foot, with Chris Holland glancing a left-wing Aaron Ledgister free-kick wide in the second minute before Dave Gilroy put an effort off target after Foley flicked on a Steve Jones centre. But struggling Sutton silenced the home crowd in the sixth minute, full-back Cuff whipping the ball over from the byline on the right and Dundas nipping in front of the defence to beat Paul Evans with a near-post header. City should have been on level terms two minutes later when Walsh flicked an Evans punt on for Gilroy and he in turn squared for Ledgister, who was in acres of space with only keeper Phil Wilson to beat. But the on-loan Cheltenham winger seemed to lack confidence as he bore down on goal and scooped the ball high over the bar. It was almost 2-0 to Sutton when Matt Coupe miscued a clearance high into the air inside his own area and Evans spilled his catch, sending the ball bouncing towards his own net before grabbing it on the line. But City were level on 12 minutes when Walsh split the visiting defence with a fine through ball to Foley, who timed his run superbly from midfield. The youngster showed a cool head to skip past the challenge of the advancing Wilson before sliding the ball under a defender and into the net. City looked the likelier side to get the game's third goal, with Gethin Jones making a dangerous run down the right before a cross that came to nothing and Gilroy and Walsh asking questions of the Sutton back line. It was the away side who scored next, though, with Dundas holding off Coupe's challenge on the byline before laying the ball back for McBean to beat Evans with a low 10-yard drive. It could have been even worse for the hosts a minute later when Jerson Dos Santos reached Dundas on the edge of the six-yard area with a ball from the right and the striker twice missed his kick under pressure as he attempted to beat Evans. Though the visitors were lively on the attack, their defence looked far from watertight and Foley send a looping header into Wilson's arms before Gilroy got past the keeper but took the ball too wide to shoot, allowing John Scarborough to get back and head his right-wing centre behind. Ledgister then saw a powerful 25-yard free-kick pushed behind by Wilson and Foley sent a rising effort over the bar from a similar distance. But City failed to draw level for a second time and were handed a mountain to climb four minutes before the break, with the impressive McBean scoring one of the best goals seen at Twerton Park this season. There seemed little immediate danger when the winger, recently recalled from a loan spell at Eastleigh, collected the ball on the left flank with plenty of defensive cover ahead of him, but he proceeded to waltz past three City players before finishing confidently into the far corner of Evans' net.

Jason Wood entered the fray at the start of the second half for an out-of-sorts Coupe as City reverted to a three-man defence in a bid to get back into a game that looked a home banker before the kick-off. City struggled to create a glut of early chances, although Ledgister had a header headed away from almost on the goalline by Tom Hughes after Wilson punched the ball to him under pressure from Gilroy. The visitors were left to try and hang on to their lead with only 10 men for the final half hour when Cuff produced his second rash foul of the game, bringing down substitute Wood in front of the popular side. Every player on the pitch bar City defender Gethin Jones raced to get involved in the resulting fracas, with City Adie Harris and keeper Paul Evans - who made a 70-yard dash to join the fray - yellow carded for their part in the incident, along with Sutton's McBean. Holland volleyed inches over from close range as Wilson made a hash of the resulting left-wing free-kick from Foley, but City did not have to wait long for the goal that they desperately needed. A driven centre from the left flew through a crowded area and was deflected onto the underside of the bar and Walsh was on hand to nod the rebound into the empty net, giving City 24 minutes to stave off an embarrassing defeat. Relish threw Darren Edwards on for Harris to join Walsh and Gilroy up front and the latter blazed wide of the near post after Jamie Wisken misjudged a long punt forward from Evans. A desperate lunge from Scarborough then put the ball out for a corner and denied Walsh a clear run on goal, but Sutton cleared the danger and broke quickly, with McBean out-stripping Jim Rollo before Wood got back to hold the visitors' dangerman up. City threw everything forward in the closing stages and Edwards appealed in vain for a penalty when he went down under Rob Hughes' challenge. Walsh had a shot blocked by Scarborough and Gethin Jones put a cross wastefully wide after dribbling into a good position on the right, while Wood did likewise from the opposite flank. Gilroy had the fans on their feet when he nodded into the net on 90 minutes, following up after Wilson kept out Holland's shot, but the celebrations were curtailed by an offside flag. Four minutes of stoppage time saw Sutton hold on comfortably and City's players, to a man, slumped dejectedly as referee Lee Collins brought an end to proceedings.