MAGIC TOM HANDS U’S A LIFELINE TO SAVOUR
PAUL DOSWELL hailed a moment of magic from Tom Bolarinwa which ended Sutton’s fivematch winless run and lifted them back up to third.
Bolarinwa’s mazy run and clinical finish which sunk Ebbsfleet and means the U’s will finish third and go straight through to a home playoff semi-final if they beat fourth-placed Aldershot on the final day.
The winger went past three players and drilled a shot inside Nathan Ashmore’s near post on a day when one goal was always going to be enough.
Doswell said: “I was as pleased with the performance as the result. We’ve not been ourselves the last three or four weeks. We’ve been too open and too many mistakes have been creeping in.
“We worked really hard on our shape and what Ebbsfleet were very good at and I felt we stopped that in the main.
“It wasn’t going to be an open game, it never is between us and it was a bit of magic from Tom Bolarinwa that got the winning goal.
“Everyone knew their jobs, we weren’t gung-ho and we nullified their front four quite well.”
Ebbsfleet, unbeaten in 11 before this, will climb back into the top seven on Tuesday if they win at Gateshead.
Manager Daryl McMahon said: “We want to get into the top 10 and if we can finish any higher, great, but there’s no pressure on us to get into the play-offs.
“We can’t change everyone getting excited because we’ve been on a good run but it’s not doom and gloom when you lose either. At the start of the season, it wasn’t expected of us so we can’t become nervous about it now. We’ve got to enjoy it – we’ve got nothing to lose.” A bumper crowd of almost 3,000 squeezed into Stonebridge Road and saw Sutton dominate from the start. Tommy Wright hit the woodwork early on and Ashmore did well to keep out a Kieron Cadogan strike at his near post. Cadogan then shot wide and Ashmore pulled off a double save to deny Josh Taylor. Corey Whitely, the brightest player for Ebbsfleet, forced Jamie Collins to clear from under his own crossbar and went close with two efforts from distance. Dave Winfield headed straight at Jamie Butler from a corner but chances, especially after the break, were at a premium. A draw seemed likely until Bolarinwa waved his magic wand and Fleet lacked the quality to follow suit.