Sutton See Off Ten Man Torquay
Torquay United left Cander Green Lane with nothing after a disappointing evening which saw hosts Sutton United score a goal in each half and Ben Gerring dismissed for two yellow cards.
United boss Kevin Nicholson made one enforced change to his starting line-up with Damon Lathrope starting in place of the injured Courtney Richards.
Sutton started the half as if they meant business and took an early lead, Maxine Biamou scoring from close range after the Gulls failed to deal with a corner. Ghanaian striker Bradley Hudson-Odoi tried to double the advantage with a dangerous shot from the edge of the box as the hosts enjoyed a positive opening ten minutes. Torquay then came back into the match, Dan Sparkes and Sam Chaney enjoying a fair share of possession with Sparkes almost putting Brett Williams, who was also settling into the game, through on goal. With the visiting defence sitting deep, the home side mustered a couple of long-range efforts before former Gunner Roarie Deacon went on a run on the half hour mark, Aman Verma doing well to clear the ball. Hudson-Odoi then tried to pick out Biamou with a cross but the delivery was too high. With five minutes to go, a tetchy Williams received Torquay’s first caution of the night, for dissent. That was followed by the Gulls’ best chance of the night so far, Nathan Blissett firing just over after a whipped-in Sparkes corner.
Blissett was also involved in the move, just after the break, which ended up with the ball in the back of the net but Williams’ effort was ruled offside. The next talking point revolved around a flurry of bookings with Ben Gerring picking up his first caution for a foul and Verma and Sutton’s Ryan Burge booked for an off-the-ball tussle. Three minutes later and Gerring’s night was over as was Torquay’s. With Biamou through on goal and only Brendan Moore to beat, the defender’s desperate challenge brought him down and drew another yellow card from the referee. Nick Bailey stood up and dispatched the spot-kick to put Sutton two up. Prolific substitute Ross Stearn could have made it three five minutes later but Moore was equal to his shot. Despite being a man down, Torquay did manage to muster some more chances before the end, most of them involving Williams. He won a corner just after the hour mark as his shot from a breakaway was deflected out, almost latched on to Sean McGinty’s through ball, with twenty minutes remaining and had a shot blocked on 80 minutes after a long ball into the Sutton box. But Torquay were always vulnerable at the other end, Moore once more winning a one-on-one with Stearn. The Gulls upped their efforts in the final ten minutes, the hosts defending well to keep out Chaney and substitute Jamie Reid but it was too little too late to affect the outcome.
Torquay will look for their first points away from home (and indeed their first goal) at North Ferriby on Saturday.
[box]
TUFC: Moore, Rowe-Turner, Lathrope, Gerring, Chaney, Young (Gallifuoco 55), Blissett (Reid 65), Sparkes, Verma, Williams (Scrivens 81), McGinty.
Subs Not Used: Robba, Nicholson.
TUFC Bookings: Verma, Williams. Sent Off: Gerring (2 x yellow cards)
Sutton: Worner, Amankwaah, Wishart (Stearn 48), Beckwith, Collins, Hudson-Odoi (Dickson 66), Eastmond, Bailey (Morrell 61), Deacon, Burge, Biamou.
Subs Not Used: Gomis, Fitchett.
Sutton Bookings: Burge.
Attendance: 1,625.
[/box]
