Hendon 2 Sutton United 1

FA Umbro Trophy 1st round

Hendon produced probably their best display of the season to beat Sutton United in the FA Umbro Trophy at LOOT Stadium on Saturday.

The final scoreline was not a true reflection of the game because Hendon were so much the better team in every department. Hendon visit Maidenhead United in the second round on Saturday, December 1, seeking revenge for a 3-1 league defeat last month.

Defensively, Sutton were at full stretch for almost the full 90 minutes and could have been 4-0 down after 20 minutes. But busy keeper Chuck Martini made tremendous saves from Phil Ruggles and Micky Woolner, while Eugene Ofori and Davis Haule wasted great chances.

The breakthrough came in the 44th minute. Haule and Ofori played a neat one-two on the edge of the Sutton penalty area and Haule, all alone, slid the ball under keeper Martini.

Byron Bubb, an excellent deputy for suspended Dale Binns, went on a mazy run but was fouled on the edge of the box. Woolner sent the free-kick high over the bar.

The second half was almost as one-sided as the first. Hendon should have been awarded a penalty in the 54th minute when Mark Cooper, making his debut, was fouled as he stretched to reach Simon Clarke's free-kick.

Substitute Ross Pickett scored Hendon's second goal in the first minute of added time. He chased a long ball and fired a shot from 25 yards that Martini saved the ball went back to Pickett, who resisted desperate challenges from the keeper and Danny Brooker, before knocking the ball into the empty net. Two minutes later, Paul Honey replied for Sutton.

"We were excellent in the first half," said a delighted Hendon manager Dave Anderson, "and in the second half we were more than good enough."

HENDON: Hook, Woolner, Clarke, Cooper, Towler, Street (Pickett 40), Ofori, Bates, Haule, Ruggles, Bubb (Burgess 90). Subs not used: Sappleton, Shirley, Ngopwani.

November 7, 2001 20:51