Comeback kings Long Sutton Athletic turned a 3-0 deficit into a 5-4 win at Oakham United Reserves on Saturday as player/boss Matt Cawthorn struck a stoppage-time winner.
With Oakham usually very strong at home, Sutton looked to be in dire straits in the ChromaSport PDFL Division One clash when Will Lee (28), Richard Phoenix (33) and Liam Mullineaux (40) found the net for the hosts.
Cawthorn pulled one back for the Magpies just before the break when he controlled well and finished low into the corner of the net.
Damien Ramm then made it 3-2 on 47 minutes with a lovely curling effort from 20 yards, before Billy Oliver saw a strong run culminate with a deflected finish for 3-3.
Sutton amazingly went ahead on 68 minutes when Matty Oliver fired home after Cawthorn had contested a 50/50 with the goalkeeper, but Jamie Black hauled Oakham level two minutes later.
It was the Magpies who had the final world, however, with Cawthorn turning home a cross from skipper Billy Oliver to clinch the win with seconds remaining.
The buzzing Sutton player/boss said: “This was a mega win for us.
“Matty Oliver ran all game and must have been sore on Sunday, because he got kicked for 90 minutes.
“He really doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Maybe he doesn’t score as many goals as he would like to, but he creates twice as many.
“But the whole squad deserves credit for this performance.
“We were shell-shocked to be 3-0 down when we had chances to go in front, but wasted them with wrong decisions, poor finishing and the quality of our final balls.
“The difference was that, in the second half, we believed we could win and started to work harder.
“We were lacklustre in the first half and didn’t press the ball.
“But this was a game we thought we could win and, on paper, was tricky. But I knew we had the squad to do this, I have confidence in their ability and believe in them.”
Sutton: Taylor, Nicholson, Ramm, Brandon, Melton, Radeloff, B Oliver, Narducci, Moses, M Oliver, Cawthorn. Sub used: Punter. Not used: Nyang.
Saturday: Spalding United Res v Sutton (2pm).
