After last Saturday’s comprehensive victory over Dereham Town, the Royals found themselves up against league leaders Stamford at home, looking to break their promotion plans.

Stringers team to face Stamford was as follows: Brown, Sawyer, Todd, Clements, Beresford, Dampha, Brown, Collins, Taylor, Hilton, and Edmunds.

As expected, Stamford started on the front foot with some good play between Morgan and Johnson. It enabled Margetts to get through onto goal, fortunately his shot went wide.

The Royals pushed forward through Taylor who slipped, but managed to regain his footing to put a ball wide for Edmunds. He cut inside the defender before firing a curling shot just wide of the far post.

Hilton went a glorious run, taking the defender to the bi line before cutting a ball back across goal. Sadly, for Sutton, no forwards were on hand for what would have been a simple tap in.

29 minutes in and Stamford broke through the Royals defence. Morgan put a ball across goal for Margetts to simply tap home. 0-1 Stamford.
Suttons heads did not drop, and Taylor was put through on goal minutes later and although his shot beat the keeper, his effort sailed just over the crossbar.

On 38 minutes Leo Brown was injured, so Hendrie was brought on to replace him.

Hilton was causing problems for the Stamford back line, and he was brought down just before the penalty box. The resulting free kick was taken by Edmunds, but sadly hit the foot of the near post.

Stamford went in at half time one goal to the good, but Sutton were definitely not out of this game. With a few good chances in the second half, they would be straight back into the game.

Sutton came out in the second half with more gusto, and Taylor played a ball back into Hendrie who shot just wide.

Dampha then saw his effort go just over the bar from 25 yards out.

Sutton were pushing Stamford back into their own half at every opportunity. From a corner, Beresford won the header which was eventually passed out to Hilton. He took a shot from distance which curled just past the corner of the goal.

Hilton side stepped a challenge in his own half, ran down the wing and cut inside. He laid the ball over to Dampha who calmly shot over Wallis in the Stamford goal to put Sutton on level terms. 1-1.

Sutton were not content with a draw, and on 83 minutes Edmunds ran wide before delivering a ball into the box for Taylor. He got a header on target at the near post but Wallis did well to keep the effort out.

The match finished with a draw, but it felt like a win to Sutton against a well organised side who are top of the table for a reason. The Royals defended well and created the chances, sadly only one of them counted. But with only one loss in their last six games, the future is looking a lot brighter for the men in Blue.

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