The Bees will be hoping to clinch their first league win of 2019 when they travel to Gander Green Lane to face play-off chasers Sutton United tomorrow night.
Darren Currie’s side go into the game off the back of a 2-2 draw away at table toppers Solihull Moors on Saturday. Wes Fonguck opened the scoring with only four minutes on the clock before Shaq Coulthirst made it two just before the hour mark. However, the Bees were reduced to 10 men soon after when Ashley Charles received his marching orders. Nathan Blissett’s 73rd minute goal sparked a comeback as Kyle Storer netted four minutes into stoppage time to clinch a late equaliser.
Last Meeting:
The last time these two sides met was just over a week ago, the Bees falling to a 1-0 defeat at The Hive London.
A James Dobson free-kick on 36 minutes proved to be the winner for Sutton as they travelled back from North London with maximum points.
Manager: Paul Doswell
Paul Doswell has been at Sutton for over a decade now, making him the longest serving manager in England’s top five divisions.
He took charge of the U’s in 2008 after they were relegated to the Isthmian Premier League. Since then, Doswell has helped the club to two promotions, taking his side to the National League for the first time since 1999. During Sutton’s first season back in England’s fifth tier, they also reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, their greatest ever finish in the tournament. More records were broken last season too as Doswell guided Sutton to a third placed finish in the National League, their all-time highest league position as they clinched a play-off spot. However, they missed out on promotion to League Two after losing to Boreham Wood in the semi-final so this season, they’ll be hoping to go one better.
Before arriving at Sutton, he also enjoyed success with Eastleigh, guiding them to three successive promotions from the Wessex League to the Conference South.
One to Watch: Roarie Deacon
Winger Roarie Deacon came off the bench in our last meeting with Sutton, embarking on his second spell with the U’s.
The 27-year-old only spent the 2016-17 season with Sutton where he netted 13 goals and played a vital part in their famous FA Cup run. He then clinched the Players’ Player of the Year and Supporters’ Player of the Year awards before securing a move to Dundee.
Deacon will be hoping to return to the form he showed last time he was at the club but for now, his focus will be on posing an attacking threat tomorrow night.
Recent League Form:
Sutton, who sit seventh, have won three of their last five league games.
The U’s beat Harrogate 2-1 at home in their second match of 2019 but fell to a 3-2 defeat away at Eastleigh in their next league fixture. However, they quickly returned to winning ways, defeating Ebbsfleet United 1-0 at Gander Green Lane before beating us by the same score-line two weeks later. Sutton go into tomorrow’s game off the back of a defeat though after they lost 1-0 at home to Barrow on Saturday afternoon.
As for their home form, the U’s have won half of their 16 games at Gander Green Lane this season.
Sutton have also bagged 42 goals this season but have conceded 35, the same amount as Barnet.
Last 5 league games: WLWWL
Connections:
Byron Harrison spent the back end of the 2017-18 season on loan at Sutton from Barrow and scored four goals in 14 league games for the U’s.
As for Sutton, defender Aswad Thomas spent a short spell on loan at Barnet in 2008 from Charlton Athletic, making only two appearances for the club in League Two.
Midfielder Nicky Bailey began his senior career at Sutton before leaving in 2004 for the Bees where he made over 100 appearances for the club in three years and was part of the Conference winning squad of 2005. Fast forward eight years and he was back at Barnet but featured on only four occasions before re-joining Sutton in 2016
