What a start - the skipper demanded the side be on the ball from the get go - something lacking in previous weeks but this week was different. Fielding a change back line, partially as a result of losses to Covid isolation and partly due to injury, there was always a potential this could go wrong but it wasn't the defence who faltered in the game as a whole, but improvements can be made. All three debutants at the back - Sam Woodcock, Ollie Hemming and Luke Douglas showed consistency and confidence.
So the first ten minutes saw Sutton dominate, winning possession relatively easily, space creation with width and passing which was crisp. The Captain Ian Harding opened the day with a neat reverse stick finish off an intercept and quick release from Simon Willis. Josh Thornley then doubled the lead with a scuffed mishit that wrong footed the keeper - again a result of a turnover and two definitive passes. The third was the skipper again, this time from a well earned penalty-corner, and a clean strike. So 3-0 in ten minutes... that was as good as it got.
To saw that the half time score line was 3-3 sends shivers down the authors spine. Capitulation coupled with a little naivety at the back allowed North Staffs to get a foothold in the game. Very soon, with a penalty corner, the ball looped off keeper Jayson Burns to the back post where the opposition striker hit the ball home with a reverse stick overhead strike. 1-3 soon became 2-3 as Sutton's players started to appeal decisions, or the lack of them, instead of carrying on and then to cap it all, with five minutes to the half, the Staffordshire team drew level as another penalty corner wasn't dealt with and penalty stroke resulted.
So, the second half and Sutton Team who lost their way - where was the form of the first ten minutes? A change at the back allowed Mick Cowell to move into the midfield and it seemed to steady the ship but then the hosts struck. Sutton, disputing a free hit didn't switch on and a deflection saw the ball sail past the stranded Burns. This was to prove to be the start of a period of ill disciplined play - the wide channels proving fruitless as the home defenders simply shepherded the Sutton midfield into tackles and the right hand side, which had been a useful release became the snare by which Sutton got turned over. Momentum had shifted and then the discipline slipped further with frustration leading to not one but two green cards within minutes of each other - for the same offence.
With the skipper receiving a blow to the ribs following a "lumpy" challenge, the edge was blunted and Sutton squandered chances to draw back level or even win the game. The game ground to a halt, Sutton retreated from the pitch and to compound the skipper's day, the journey home was dreadful - a full hour and 15 minutes sat on the M6 thanks to an RTA.
Next week, next week - play as we did in the first ten for at least half the game and we may even win!