Isthmian League Cup 3rd Rd
Att : 178
Sutton United – 2 [M.Watson 62], [S.Watson 75]
Basingstoke Town – 0
Sorry if this report is a bit vague/inaccurate, but I wasn’t going to bother writing one, but I changed my mind. A week later! So, er….
At last!!! Another of our looooong delayed midweek cup matches is finally out of the way. (Hey, the proggie was ONLY 2 months out of date….) Sutton met ‘Stoke in this competition for the third year running (Yawn…) and promptly knocked ‘em out for the third year running. Although we were suffering from another of our infamous (and alarmingly common) Cows Arse/Shovel Interface failures for about an hour. The barn door could have been the size of Arizona, but for 60 minutes our attempts to connect a size 5 Mitre with aforementioned large desert state sized door failed miserably as we missed chance after chance after chance.
Mark Watson hit the side netting, Naz volleys wide, Naz squares to Sal who hesitates and the keeper saves and Mark Watson gets clean through only for the ‘keeper to save at his feet.
The breakthrough comes after 62 minutes, a long throw is headed back by Danny Brooker and Mark Watson finally finds the net with a volley on the turn from 6 yards. Most of the 178 of us present sigh with relief (I can’t vouch for the few visiting fans, but thier lot WERE shite…) as the 30 minutes Extra-Time AND Penalties that were looking likely, faded slightly.
The horror of an extra half hour was completely extinguished with 15 minutes to play as Naz heads Sal’s cross against the bar and Steve Watson dives in to nut the ball in for number 2. Mark Watson goes close with a header from a free-kick right near the end, but Basingstoke rarely threaten throughout the 90 minutes and in the end 2-0 does’nt paint an accurate picture.
PS. Writing this a week late has it’s benefits. Maidenhead beat Slough 4-2 tonight, so it’s them away in the next round then…
Man of The Match : Ummm. Sod it. Steve Watson. Just ‘cos I feel like it.
Entertainment Value : 5. Enough chances to sink a battleship, but not a brilliant performance.