Leyton Orient 0 Sutton United 1
Vanarama National League
Saturday 29th September
Leyton Orient’s thirteen game unbeaten run came to a halt on Saturday against a well marshalled Sutton United side that came to spoil, frustrate and smother the O’s. Paul Doswell’s game plan paid dividends as the U’s, who started the day in seventh, were able to produce the one clear cut chance in the game early in the second half to not only end Orient’s unbeaten start but also knock them off the top of the table.
A good O’s move in the 10th minute saw the ball move quickly from right to left; Jobi MacAnuff was involved at the start, Myles Judd was on hand to deliver a cross at the end of the move that Jamie Butler cut out, and the approach play shown by the O’s looked promising.
However the U’s fought for every inch; Ashwad Thomas kept Macauley Bonne under lock and key; and the visitors were not afraid to be physical at times either; it was to earn them a total of seven yellow cards throughout the match and the robust nature of their play did enough to keep the O’s off the boil.
Josh Koroma hustled his way into winning the O’s a corner in the 19th minute, then James Dayton showed some speed to go past his marker but his final cross darted away from a group of O’s players camped just outside Suttons six-yard box. Then on 23 minutes Joe Widdowson bundled his way through and won the O’s another corner. This time the resulting corner, delivered with precision by MacAnuff was headed goalwards by Widdowson, requiring Butler to pull off the first save of the afternoon as he tipped the ball over the cross bar.
Sutton had kept the O’s frontline reasonably quiet but then wasted their first clear cut opportunity as Tommy Wright could only skew his effort wide after being picked out by Craig Eastmond. A Kenny Davis free kick just on the half-hour mark just missed the target; at that point of the game Dean Brill the O’s shot-stopper had not had any shots to stop!
In the 38th minute a nice passing move involving Dayton, MacAnuff and Koroma looked like it was about to open up the Sutton defence, but the final ball by Koroma was blocked and then cleared. But the O’s were able to eke out another opportunity two minutes later as a ball worked its way towards Bonne, who turned and unloaded, with the shot taking a deflection and winning a corner. A free kick outside the box was awarded soon afterwards, as Dayton was hauled down but the resulting free kick was drilled well wide. There was just enough time left in the half for the O’s to muster another forward move which ended with Bonne having a headed parried by Butler.
As the teams came out to start the second half it looked like it was going to be a tight game that was going to play out as a goalless draw, or maybe, just maybe one chance would created that resulted in a goal. Sadly for the O’s it was Sutton United who were to break the deadlock; three minutes after the re-start Josh Ayunga picked up a ball outside the box and drilled it into the bottom left hand corner.
Now the O’s had to find something if they wanted to keep both their unbeaten run going, not to mention ensuring at least another point was added to the tally. The U’s however continued their game plan of containing the O’s, with a reckless challenge on Charlie Lee seeing Eastmond going into the Referee’s book. The resulting free kick by MacAnuff was met by a Bonne header, but Butler spread himself and parried the ball away. The next Bonne effort had far too much height on it to cause any concern and ended up with the fans in the North Stand.
Sutton didn’t create too many chances themselves, Aguga having a shot blocked and then a Thomas free kick needed to be defended by the O’s defence; but the frustrations were clearly being felt by the O’s faithful who had to witness Sutton continuing their containment game plan, which also continued to be physical at times. The U’s also put bodies on the line, with a Brophy cross requiring Dale Bennett and then Nicky Bailey to take it in turns to block the cross.
A nice O’s move in the 78th saw Widdowson find some space to pass to Bonne, who then played into the path of Brophy who could only poke a shot wide. Then a cross from MacAnuff swept across Suttons six-yard box and ended up going begging as James Alabi was unable to get enough purchase on the ball to turn it goalward. Two further free kicks from MacAnuff failed to find any O’s players in the box and as the clock would down the O’s continued to try and salvage something from the game. But you guessed it wasn’t going to be Orient’s day when MacAnuff again acted as provider, when having twisted and turned his way to get inside the Sutton box, he then teed up Dale Gorman who cannoned his shot over the cross bar and then in the final seconds Alabi fired another blank as he placed an effort wide of the left upright.
The referee then brought an end to the game, and with it Orient’s unbeaten run. It may not have been pretty to watch but Sutton United stuck to their game plan and ultimately posed a question that Justin Edinburgh’s team were unable to answer.
Leyton Orient: Dean Brill, Joe Widdowson, Josh Coulson, Jobi MacAnuff (Capt), Craig Clay, Macauley Bonne, James Dayton (James Brophy 65’), Myles Judd (James Alabi 75’), Josh Koroma, Marvin Ekpiteta, Charlie Lee (Dale Gorman 65’).
Sutton United: Jamie Butler, Dale Bennett, Ashwad Thomas, Dean Beckwith, Charlie Clough, Kenny Davis (Wayne Brown 72’), Jonah Ayunga (Dan Wishart 75’), Craig Eastmond (Capt), Nicky Bailey, Tommy Wright (Tom Bolarinwa 65’), Aron Drinan.
Scorer – Jonah Ayunga (48’).
