A late, dramatic header from Will Davies rescued a point for Sutton United in a pulsating 1-1 draw against Dagenham & Redbridge at the VBS Community Stadium. The match, a tense encounter punctuated by a flurry of yellow cards and tactical substitutions, saw the Daggers snatch the lead before Davies’ last-gasp intervention ensured the spoils were shared.
The first half was a cagey affair, with both sides struggling to carve out clear openings. Despite the lack of goalmouth action, the referee was kept busy. Dagenham’s Ryan Hill was the first to be cautioned for a foul in the 17th minute. Sutton’s Will Davies and Lewis Simper then both entered the referee’s notebook in the 26th minute following separate infringements. Finley Barbrook compounded Sutton’s disciplinary problems with a yellow card for a foul just before half-time, in the 44th minute. Sutton manager Steve Morison reacted to the scrappy nature of the game with an early substitution, replacing Josh Coley with Eduino Vaz in the 36th minute, seemingly shifting from a midfield-heavy approach to reinforce the defence. At half-time, Ryan Jackson was replaced by Harry Ransom, further solidifying the backline.
The second half sparked into life in the 64th minute when Josh Umerah broke the deadlock for Dagenham. He latched onto a clever pass from Josh Rees and calmly slotted the ball home to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Umerah’s celebrations were somewhat muted when he received a yellow card just ten minutes later, in the 74th minute. As the clock ticked down, Sutton pressed forward in search of an equaliser. Dagenham manager Lewis Young responded by introducing Aaron Loupalo-Bi for Marcus Wyllie in the 73rd minute. Sutton’s pursuit of a goal saw further changes, with Nana Boateng and Siju Odelusi replacing Tyler French and Alex Woodyard respectively in the 79th minute. Even a late goalkeeping substitution for Dagenham, with Nathan Harvey replacing Louis Jones in the 85th minute, couldn’t prevent Sutton’s late surge. Deep into injury time, in the 92nd minute, Finley Barbrook delivered a pinpoint cross which found Will Davies, who powered a dramatic header past Harvey to send the home crowd into raptures. There was still time for a final Dagenham substitution, with goalscorer Umerah making way for Conor Lawless after his goal proved insufficient to secure all three points.
The draw sees Sutton United climb one place to 11th in the National League table, while Dagenham & Redbridge remain in 19th. The reverse fixture earlier in the season saw Dagenham emerge comfortable 3-0 victors, a result Sutton will have been eager to avenge. This draw means Sutton have taken four points from their last two encounters with Dagenham.