KEEPERS SHINE IN STALEMATE!
Sutton United and AFC Fylde retained their unbeaten records in the National League in a hard-fought draw that may have lacked goals but still provided good entertainment for the Bank Holiday weekend crowd at Gander Green Lane.
In an end-to-end battle, both keepers were kept busy – Sutton’s Jamie Butler twice forced to keep out Fylde’s top scorer Danny Rowe, while visiting stopper Jay Lynch denied Jamie Collins in a desperate goalmouth scramble late on.
Sutton made a double change with 20 minutes left – and it almost paid immediate dividends when Craig Eastmond found the net, only to be flagged narrowly off-side.
A point apiece ensures both sides remain among the early National League pacesetters with Sutton lying in fifth and Dave Challinor’s AFC Fylde side moving up to second, two points behind leaders Wrexham.
Challinor was satisfied with the result, commenting: “I think it was a fair result. Sutton had the better of things in the first half-hour, but we had a good spell as well where we could have scored.
“If you’d offered me a draw before the game, I would have been quite happy.”
Similarly, Sutton chief Paul Doswell was happy with a share of the spoils, adding: “It could have ended 4-4 as both goalkeepers had to make good saves, and although you like to win your home games, I am happy with a point against a good side going into Monday’s visit to Aldershot.”
The opening first half-hour saw Sutton create several halfchances with Kieron Cadogan just failing to turn in a low cross from Tom Bolarinwa and then seeing a shot turned away at full stretch by Lynch.
Prolific Coasters frontman Rowe was largely kept quiet by Sutton’s outstanding central defensive partnership of Charlie Clough and Collins, but he did show his confidence when he tried to catch Butler off his line from all of 40 yards – the ball drifting just wide.
Either side of the interval, it was Butler who was the busier keeper, making two fine saves to deny the dangerous Joe Cardle before the break, and then twice thwarting Zaine Francis-Angol in the first ten minutes of the second half.
With Fylde’s central defensive pairing of Neill Byrne and Danny Kane also restricting Sutton’s attack, neither side could find the breakthrough.
Sutton substitute Aaron Drinan saw a scrambled effort ruled out for off-side, while two minutes from time Lynch made a superb save to keep out a Collins header.
At the other end, Clough produced a stunning piece of defending to take the ball off Gime Touré just as the Fylde substitute was about to shoot, and both sides had to settle for a point.