MATCH REPORT: Reserves through to Cobbin Quarter Finals
A hattrick from Lawrence Al-Hariri ensured victory over Barlestone St Giles.
Sutton faced Barlestone St Giles in the 2nd round of the Cobbin Trophy. The match had been rescheduled 4 times due to the horrific conditions of waterlogged and frozen pitches over the last few months.
Sutton arrived to an under prepared pitch that was wet, not marked out and was very bobbly and knew that today's game was going to be a big test with the pitch conditions and also a very strong wind.
Barlestone took the lead early on when a long ball over the top was firstly saved by Jake Benson in goal however the ball fell kindly to the opposition striker who tapped the ball home into an empty net. Sutton replied almost instantly when Tormey picked out Hood on the edge of the box who volleyed towards goal, his initial shot was saved by the keeper but Crosland was on hand to find the net with the rebound.
At the other end of the pitch Sutton gave away a penalty as the ball struck the hand of a defender and Barlestone took to lead once again.
Tormey however had other plans and straight away broke down the right taking on three players before crossing the ball into Al-Hariri who volleyed home from close range.
Sutton started to look more comfortable and took the lead just before half time as Hood saw his shot from outside the box cannon off the woodwork into the path of Al-Hariri who slotted home.
The 2nd half started and the Barlestone players looked dejected. They received their first red card for violent conduct followed by another 5 minutes later for a horrendous challenge which saw Pinchess leave the field injured. Al-hariri then finished off a fine display by completing his hattrick with a lofted shot over the keeper.
Crosland then finished the game off by rounding the keeper close to the halfway line but it wasn't easy sailing as the ball bobbled at least 10 times before he calmly put the ball in the net.
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