FA TROPHY: Welling United 0 Sutton United 1

U's get revenge on Welling

A fortnight after losing narrowly in the league at Park View Road, Sutton gained some measure of revenge on Sunday with an equally narrow victory to earn themselves a place in the third round of the FA Trophy.

Battling hard to preserve the lead they held from the 13th minute, U's had to clear off their line twice and were grateful to Phil Wilson for two superb second half saves, but could have spared themselves the anxieties of the latter stages had they taken some good chances of their own in the second half.

U's began with a 4-4-2 formation - Matt Gray and Nigel Brake the wide midfielders - and, released from more defensive responsibilities, Brake almost created a goal inside five minutes with a deep cross that was met at the far post by Gray, but Charlie Mitten was down to smother the effort by the post. He had no chance in the 13th minute, though, when Paul Honey fought well to win possession in midfield before putting Eddie Akuamoah through, and he produced a cool finish to beat Mitten to his right.

The goalkeeper had some difficult moments on the greasy surface as U's continued to create chances down the slope, and needed two attempts to cling on to shots from Joff Vansittart and the fit-again Peter Fear.

It was far from one-way traffic however, and Fear was in action at the other end when, following a succession of Welling corners, he kicked away a Tommy Tyne header from the foot of the post. It was the second time U's had been forced to intervene on their own goal-line, the first coming when Tyne ran on to a long pass over the top and cut in before hitting a shot that was pushed out by Wilson. It seemed as though Paul Booth had to score from the rebound, but somehow U's own Booth, Stuart, managed to block the close range effort.

With George Lay thumping a shot just wide from 20 yards, Welling will have felt optimistic about their chances of pulling the game back playing down the slope in the second half, but it was U's who almost had the perfect start to the second period when Fear's 20-yard volley dipped just too late. Despite the loss of the unlucky Vansittart soon afterwards, Sutton should have put daylight between the sides on the hour when Akuamoah did well to head back a Gray cross, but with most of the goal to aim at, albeit on his less favoured right foot, Brake could only shoot against the base of the post.

It could have been an expensive miss as Wilson immediately had to go full length to turn away Sonny Ball's 25 yard shot, and then failed to hols a Jamie Day effort, only for substitute Narada Bernard to miscue horribly from the rebound and Tyne to shoot across the face of goal.

Steve Douglas, who had replaced Vansittart, then showed his capabilities with a surging run from right to left and a fine pass out to Brake on the left. When the ball came back and was helped on by Fear, Douglas was only denied the achievement of scoring for the first team, reserves and youth team in the space of five days by his failure to make a totally clean contact and a good save by Mitten.

Tim Hambley then came on for the home side and almost made an immediate impact as he met a deflected cross from the right with a firm downward header, but Wilson plunged to his left to make an outstanding save.

Akuamoah, who worked tirelessly, tested Mitten from 18 yards after a good link up with Fear, who also put a free kick just wide after Day had been booked for fouling Akuamoah, but it was with more desperate defending that U's clinched their third round place when a corner fell to Paul Booth six minutes from time, and this time it was the irrepressible Gray who threw himself in the way of the shot.

Sutton:P Wilson, M Gray, L Gonsalves, T Quinton, J Scarborough, S Booth, P Fear, P Honey, J Vansittart (sub S Douglas 57), N Brake, E Akuamoah. Subs not used: G Boosey, A Martin, G Tydeman
Goal: Akuamoah (13)

Booked: Akuamoah (68 - dissent)

Welling: C Mitten, T Browne, S Ball, G Lay (sub T Hambley 74), L Watts, I Wiles, D Slatter (sub N Bernard 36), L Spiller, T Tyne, P Booth, J Day. Subs not used: T Arojogun, G Carter. Booked: Spiller (72 - dissent), Day (81 - foul)

Referee: M Bull

Attendance: 501

Third round
Sutton's reward in the third round is a home tie against Nationwide South leaders Grays Athletic on Saturday 15 January. Grays have already beaten U's 5-1, at their place, in a league game, and have subsequently picked up several players following Hornchurch's collapse. It means that they are due at Gander Green Lane twice in a fortnight, with the return league meeting scheduled for January 29.

Click here to see the full draw for the FA Trophy Third round