The Fleet Return To Sutton
- Mark Bravery
- Oct 26, 2017
- 2 min read
Sutton United renew acquaintance with Ebbsfleet United this Saturday (28 October) at home, the first league encounter between the two sides since Sutton's decisive 2-0 victory eighteen months ago that effectively clinched the South division title.
That result at Gander Green Lane, in front of a crowd of 3,142, consigned Ebbsfleet to the runners-up spot, and they ended up losing the play-off final to Kent rivals Maidstone United. A year later they also finished in second place, this time behind Maidenhead United, but did triumph in the play-offs, overcoming Chelmsford City 2-1 in the final. They thus reclaimed the place in the top tier of non-League football that they last lost in 2013, the year in which ownership of the club was passed from the membership-based website venture MyFootballClub to Kuwaiti investors.
The Fleet have made a steady start to this season, drawing nine of their seventeen matches, and currently stand twelfth in the table. They have only lost once away, 1-0 at Macclesfield, that reverse early this month interrupting a run of four league victories before Tuesday evening's surprise 1-0 home defeat to Torquay United.
Sutton are now undefeated in six league matches, Tuesday's rousing 2-2 draw at Aldershot nudging them up a place to fourth, although, such is the bunching near the top of the table, they have only five points more than Saturday's opponents. Full back Aswad Thomas will be available again after being suspended for the Aldershot match. Midfielder Craig Eastmond is likely to be missing for some months following the nasty ankle injury he suffered at Hartlepool last Saturday. Forward Moses Emmanuel has gone on loan to Maidenhead.
Ebbsfleet will be without last season's leading scorer Darren McQueen, who may be out for the rest of this season with a knee injury, while forward Bradley Bubb and centre back Dave Winfield are still on the road back from injury. Fleet manager Daryl McMahon may give a debut to forward Febian Brandy, a former Manchester United youth player, who has signed after a spell playing in Thailand. The visiting squad will include a number of players who have faced Paul Doswell's men before, including midfielder Luke Coulson, scorer of a brace against Sutton when at Eastleigh last season, and winger Myles Weston, a member of the Notts County team that defeated Sutton 1-0 in the first round of the FA Cup in 2008.