A late Forest Green Rovers surge snatched victory from the jaws of a draw at the VBS Community Stadium, leaving Sutton United heartbroken. The match, a tense and tactical affair punctuated by yellow cards, ultimately swung on two late goals that dramatically shifted the momentum.
Forest Green drew first blood in the 30th minute, Christian Doidge finding the net from a Ben Tozer assist. Sutton United had already signalled their intent to adapt with a substitution just minutes before the goal, Harry Ransom replacing Hayden Muller. The half’s intensity increased further when Forest Green’s Tom Knowles received a yellow card for a foul.
The second half continued in a similar vein. Searching for an attacking spark, Sutton United introduced Ashley Nadesan for Nana Boateng. As the game became increasingly fractious, yellow cards were shown to Forest Green’s Sean Long and then to Sutton’s Ashley Nadesan and Finley Barbrook. Just when a Forest Green victory seemed likely, Jeremy Sivi, assisted by Will Davies, levelled the score for Sutton United in the 86th minute, igniting wild celebrations amongst the home support. Forest Green had made a double substitution just minutes before the equaliser, bringing on Emmanuel Osadebe and Kyle McAllister.
However, the drama was far from over. Almost immediately, Forest Green restored their lead in the 89th minute, Charlie McCann scoring from a Kyle McAllister assist. This late goal proved decisive, leaving Sutton with no time to recover. Forest Green then made two further substitutions, Harry Cardwell replacing goalscorer Doidge and Jordan Moore-Taylor coming on for Liam Sercombe, seemingly to shore up the defence and see out the remaining minutes.
The victory sees Forest Green Rovers climb to fifth in the National League table with 11 points, while Sutton United drop to eighth with nine points. The two sides had not met in the previous three seasons.