On the back of three straight wins optimism was high as I made the relatively short journey from Cheltenham to Sutton’s Gander Green Lane.
As grey skies circled overhead in South West London, an unchanged Rovers XI kicked off. Backed by a noisy away following Rovers started brightly, passing the ball fluidly from left to right to try and find an opening, with a great chance falling to last week’s scorer James Maxwell, but unfortunately his goal bound shot was blocked.
But for all their dominance of possession Rovers just lacked that final killer pass and Sutton came into the game as the half progressed, with their more direct shoot-on-sight policy stinging Jonathon Mitchell’s palms a couple of times. All to play for as the half drew to a close.
Straight from the kick-off Rovers spurned a golden opportunity as George Miller’s goal-bound shot was stopped by a defender. It just wasn’t to be our day as at the other end a corner was crossed to the far post as Tommy Rowe lost his footing and Sutton scored from the knock back.
Rovers spurned another great chance as Caolan Lavery, within a minute of coming on as substitute, miss-hit his shot in front of the away fans. With Rovers pressing for an equaliser in the final few minutes Sutton countered and scored to secure a flattering 2-0 victory. Rovers more than matched their opponents, but were made to pay for missed opportunities in each half.
by Kev Smethurst
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