Gander Green Lane Tuesday, July 14th, 2015 k/o 19:45   1st Team Friendly Attendance: 1,512         Sutton United 0-2 Crystal Palace X1
2015 /16

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Sutton Utd 0 Crystal Palace 2 14th July 2015 Despite a steady, light drizzle a good crowd of 1512 saw the U’s and a young Crystal Palace side play a lively match to officially open the club’s new 3G surface. So, to get the niceties out of the way, how did the pitch play ? Well, the general view was that it was excellent, like a good grass surface. It certainly looks as though it will encourage a passing game and also players who like to run with the ball. Exciting times ! So, to the game. The visitors looked lively upfront, although not carrying a great threat. Allassani almost got onto the end of a through pass but the ball was safely shepherded back to Ross Worner by Simon Downer and Dan Fitchett should have had a penalty when pulled back. Kevin Amankwaah was getting forward a lot and his deep cross found Fitchett but his header was blocked and went wide. Ross Stearn then won a free-kick 25 yards out and an inviting delivery saw Micky Spillane hit the post with a glancing header. At the other end Gray pulled his shot wide from a good position and then Stearn headed wide from another Amankwaah cross. Palace then took the lead in bizarre circumstances, an innocuous corner steered past his own keeper by Dean Beckwith with a curiously misplaced header from some way out. The U’s should have hot back almost immediately but Spillane headed an inviting free-kick wide despite seeming to time his run perfectly. Fitchett then missed from close range after Amankwaah headed a deep corner back into the danger area and the same players combined to set up another chance but Fitchett was outnumbered by the Palace defence. As half-time approached Anderson spurned a good chance by shooting straight at Worner. The U’s made five changes at the break and were soon two down, Anderson knocking in a rebound after Worner had saved his penalty following a trip by Jamie Collins. The game lost some of its shape after that, with a steady stream of substitutions. Tom Bolarinwa looked very lively and Tommy Wright again gave cause for encouragement. Ultimately, on the field it was a frustrating night for the U’s who could have scored three times in the first half but it was an undoubted success in all other regards, with Tim Vine chipping in with a bit of live commentary and enjoying some verbal sparring with Ricky Boylan in the boardroom. Despite the rain, even the ice-cream man had a good night ! Line-up:- Ross Worner, Kevin Amankwaah, Dan Spence, Simon Downer, Shaun Cooper, Dean Beckwith, Micky Spillane, Glen Southam, Dan Fitchett, Stuart Fleetwood, Ross Stearns. H/T Jamie Collins for Downer Craig Dundas for Amankwaah Tom Bolarinwa for Fitchett Tommy Wright for Fleetwood Dan Wishart for Cooper 66m Hamish Galbraith for Southam Emil Salam for Stearn Crystal Palace: David Gregory, Lavender Pike, Jerome Binnom-Williams, Hiram Boateng, Roderick Collins, Luke Croll, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Andreas Breimyr, Keshi Anderson, Jake Gray, Reise Allassani Attendance: 1512 Click here to add or alter a scan of the Match Programme for this game. Click here to add or alter a scan of a Ticket for this game. Click here to load a picture from the game Click here to alter the game details