MATCH REPORT

Sutton travelled to Spalding to be met by atrocious weather and a very strong Spalding 4ths side.

Spalding took the game to Sutton from the start, however whilst enjoying the lions share of possession in the 1st half were restricted to very few real chances by a side missing their 'promoted' Captain; today they were led by Nick Worth who organised his young charges with almost military precision, ably assisted by Man of the Match Josh Thody in goal who did not make a mistake all game. The 0-0 score at half time did not reflect the entertaining quality of hockey on show from both sides.

Sutton came into the game more in the second half, with every member of the squad working hard for each other and displaying some excellent flowing hockey. Jason Mallet had a particularily intelligent game in the middle of the park.

Chances came either end and it was Sutton who took the lead after fine work from Mallet, Scott Ingram finished with aplomb. Sutton looked to be holding on for a fine victory until Spalding scored from a well struck short corner to equalise.

Even then Sutton still had opportunities to claim victory, with White, Ingram and Mallet going close and a disappointed Canham shooting wide after an excellent run from his own half by Mallet.

In the end, a draw is probably a fair result for what was a very enjoyable game played in challenging conditions and Suttons young team can be proud of a strong performance against a much more experienced side.

Report by Hunter S. Thompson.