Sutton United 5 Altrincham 0

Words Noah Shulman-Miller Picture Jonathan Moore

Altrincham were well beaten in sweltering South London conditions, as four goals towards the end of the first half left them facing an impossible task at the VBS Community Stadium.

Phil Parkinson’s side made a fast start in the opening minutes of the game, controlling possession well and countering convincingly.

In the opening two minutes, Justin Amaluzor broke on the counter-attack and fed the ball into the path of Tom Crawford, who set up the opening chance of the game for Alex Newby, which was well saved by Sutton keeper Steve Arnold.

The early exchanges were cagey, with several attacks in favour of both sides leading to little. Altrincham should have been the team to break the deadlock after Joe Nuttall had a chance that was taken passively and well saved by Arnold.

Tylor Golden started alongside Lewis Baines, Jake Cooper and Lewis Banks as the Altrincham manager was forced into a change at the back following Eddy Jones’ early dismissal against Woking.

Both sides demonstrated their defensive frailties early in the game, with Sutton losing the ball around the edge of their six-yard box and handing Alty a handful of chances, which Nuttall and Max Haygarth failed to capitalise on.

Alty lacked a clinical edge in the final third, and it was to prove a key difference between the teams in the final outcome.

The deadlock was broken after 27 minutes, as Alty’s defence gave the ball away carelessly and Jake Coley was there to take advantage of the mix-up as he fired a shot past Ethan Ross, into the bottom corner from outside the box.

Five minutes on, Nana Boateng searched out Jayden Harris from the bye-line. When two Alty defenders failed to clear their lines, the ball fell kindly to the feet of Harris, who drilled a powerful effort into the net to double the lead for Steve Morison’s side.

Jake Cooper denied Boateng minutes later, after he was found in acres of space, clean through on goal. Alty looked disjointed and shaken up by the former Football League club’s fast start.

After a great contribution to prevent United building on their lead minutes earlier, Cooper was culpable soon after, as he was dispossessed by Will Davies midway inside the Altrincham half. Davies found himself through on goal and had great composure to slide it beneath an onrushing Ross for a third.

Cooper brought down Harris inside the area, leaving the referee no other choice than to award a spot-kick to the hosts. Siju Odelusi sent Ross the wrong way from 12 yards to add to Sutton’s lead, as the players went down the tunnel for their debrief at the break.

Cooper’s afternoon was finished early as the Altrincham manager made one substitution at the break, sending on James Jones as substitute.

The second half started with a chance for Haygarth to give the 133 Alty fans something to cheer about, but his free-kick clipped the side netting and flew just past Arnold’s goal.

With half-an-hour to go, Lewis Simper made room for a shot, but it was tipped round the post by Ross.

The gaffer made two substitutions in quick succession as Regan Linney and George Wilson replaced Nuttall and Elliot Osborne.

Alty’s day became more miserable, as Ashley Nadesan entered the frame and, minutes later, met a Simper cross with a header that Ross got fingertips to but couldn't stop crossing the line for a fifth Sutton goal.

Not the scoreline the Robins would have wanted, but in August 2019, we lost 5-0 to Boston United in difficult conditions in opening weeks of the season, only to end the campaign by beating the Pilgrims in the promotion play-off final - so we've been here before!

Sutton: Arnold (GK), French (Ransom 78’), Odelusi (Wadham 65’), Coley (Nadesan 69’), Simper, Davies (Rush 78’), Vaz, Muller, Boateng (Sivi 69’), Jackson, Harris.

Subs not used: Waller, Sims (GK)

Altrincham: Ross (GK), Banks, Baines, Cooper (Jones 45’), Osborne (Wilson 62’), Newby, Amaluzor (Weaver 74’), Haygarth (Reddin 63’), Crawford, Golden, Nuttall (Linney 56’)

Subs not used: Kosylo, Fallon (GK)

Yellow Cards: Harris, Jackson, French | None

Red Cards: None | None

Attendance: 2,436 (133 away)

Next Up: We head back down south on for a 7:45pm kick-off at York Road. Maidenhead United are our hosts. Away tickets can be bought online through the club booking portal - £20 adults; £15 concessions; £10 for 17–22-year-olds; £5 for Under 17s.