Pinchbeck United 3
Long Sutton Athletic 0
Ian Dunn admits he’s gunning for glory in the Lincs Junior Cup after seeing his Pinchbeck United side put a game Long Sutton Athletic to the sword on Saturday.
Goals from Ollie Maltby (pen 11), Liam Ogden (51) and Tom Brooks (90) steered Pinchbeck into the fourth round at Knight Street – and earned them a home tie against unfancied Tetney Rovers on December 10.
The county competition is the only trophy player/boss Dunn hasn’t won at ChromaSport PDFL level, so he’s naturally hungry to add it to his collection.
But the Pinchbeck chief was quick to compliment Division One side Sutton, who he felt showed enough quality to be considered a Premier Division side of the future.
“We dominated the game to be fair,” said the player/boss. “3-0 was fair, although we could have scored more.
“Credit to Sutton, they came and had a go. Sure, they played 4-5-1, but they went for it.
“Their keeper made some good saves and they made a lot of last-ditch tackles to deny us.
“They didn’t quite have the quality to hurt us, but they broke well and – if they play like that every week – there’s no reason why they couldn’t be a Premier Division side in the future.
“Obviously we want to win the competition – we want to win everything we enter this year. If we can be in the top three in the league and three quarter-finals come Christmas, I’ll be very happy.
“It’s also the one competition I’ve not won at this level, so it’s one that I really want to win this year.
“We’ve been given a draw against a side outside of the three top leagues represented in the competition, so we also have to be happy with that.
“Overall we had no injuries, kept a clean sheet and won 3-0. That’s job done as far as I’m concerned.”
Knowing they were up against it at Knight Street, the last thing Sutton would have wanted to do was gift Pinchbeck an early goal.
But that’s exactly what they did as top scorer Maltby slotted home an 11th-minute opener from the penalty spot.
The Magpies did hold their own and keep the score to 1-0 at the break, but a deflected Ogden free kick six minutes into the second period all but put the game to bed.
Maltby and skipper Nick Bishop should really have ensured the scoreline was more one-sided before defender Brooks made it 3-0 in the dying seconds.
Sutton player/boss Matt Cawthorn was happy enough with his side and felt they didn’t disgrace themselves against a “well-drilled” side.
He said: “A 3-0 defeat rarely pleases a manager, but i was happy with the lads’ attitude.
“Pinchbeck flew out of the blocks and pinned us back early on. great credit goes to Ian Dunn and Allan Ross, they are well organised and well drilled.
“It was disappointing to concede a sloppy penalty – and so early on – but they couldn’t find another way past Carl Taylor in our goal.
“Both he and Ant Melton put in several last ditch tackles and blocks to keep the scoreline down.
“On a very wet and boggy pitch, both sides tried to play football. We created a couple of openings ourselves but the final balls were disappointing.
“A deflected free kick put us 2-0 down, but we didn’t disgrace ourselves against a top Premier Division side.
“That is the level where we want be playing week in, week out – and after this display, we’re not far away.”
Pinchbeck: B Murrell, Edwards, Gardner, Brooks, Smith, Leggett, Bishop, Shipley, Ogden, Panton, Maltby. Subs used: Dunn, Francis, Lawe. Not used: Eyes.
Sutton: Taylor, Ramm, Melton, Brandon, Bennett, Radeloff, B Oliver, Narducci, Moses, Cawthorn, M Oliver. Subs used: Ward, Nyang.
Attendance: 50.
- Moulton Harrox’s Lincs Junior Cup trip to North Somercotes United was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Crowland Town, meanwhile, lost 11-2 at Horncastle Town.
