Vodka Milkshake

Elder readers among you will recall that Saturday mornings used to see a TV programme hosted by Jimmy Greaves and Ian St John called, surprisingly, 'Saint and Greavsie'. As you probably know, there was a phrase commonly used which was “it’s a funny old game” and also the phrase “it’s a game of two halves” which was pertinent to the Barnet fixture and Sutton’s first home game of the 2019/2020 season, more on that later.

The weekend saw a very lively and decent start to the season with a 3-1 away win at Hartlepool and from the tales of my esteemed colleague Dukey’s blog was one of the funniest away trips I have experienced to date. However, I do wish to clear one thing up regarding yours truly – I was feeling a bit the worse for wear on the way home – Robbo and vodka is not a good mix and thanks to Mr X’s purchase of a horrid strawberry and vodka milkshake type liqueur, it knocked me out. As soon as we turned up at Kings Cross the first thought of mine was “I need my bed” so much that I avoided the faster route back to Morden via the Victoria Line and just ended up on the epic Northern Line slog South.  

"At the end of the day Saint...."

My thanks here must go to Darryl for waking me up at Morden Station and for the subsequent lift home.  The next morning I felt fine and those words we have all said at some time repeatedly “I won’t drink again” were uttered by my mouth. It's a lie of course, you all know this. 

Now, as Matt Gray says “let’s look forward, not back” and start turning our gaze towards the home game against Barnet.  Work today led me to finishing at 17:30 and therefore a mad dash to get home, freshen up, chill and then head to the game. Instead of the usual bus/bus, bus/train or Uber route, I instead opt to use the recently formed Go Sutton service (which the club have just advised supporters to use said transportation) to get to the ground.  

The ride is a very smooth one and by 19:20 I am walking up to the ground. I spot Ryan S, assisting with the car park and ask how he felt after Saturday – fair to say he is still recovering as well! Heading to the bars, the usual faces are in tow and this includes Tatey who is known to be a major bop when attending games i.e. that we do not win when he attends.

Bad pink stuff. Bad.

Shock attendances are normally far and few between, but also in attendance tonight was HAVANT Nicky Beckwith, brother of HAVANT Dean Beckwith. I asked why he was not at Hampton and Richmond for the Havant game to see his brother play, but he said he had a job nearby GGL and decided to watch us instead.

The team is known via Mr X in the Gandermonium Whats App group and was as follows:-

26. JB, 2. Bennett, 5. Goodliffe, 6. JC [skipper], 24. Milsom, 4. Barden, 10. Beautyman, 8. Davis, 18. Randall, 17. Ajiboye and 27. Jarvis

So just the one change from Saturday, but I thought at home games we were looking to have two strikers up front? Oh well let’s see how it pans out.  ow turning back to the first paragraph of this blog re: game of two halves, well that was all a set up! This game was about to be a perfect example. In what was a really turgid first half display would have been delightful to end at 0-0 for the half time team talk.  However, on the 38th minute whilst walking round towards the bar with HTS, Barnet are awarded a penalty which is consequently converted.  Kenny Davis is also substituted for the ever youthful Dundo just before half time having picked up a knock.

Action

At this point, I'll refer you back to my earlier statement where I said I would not drink again and it being a lie? Yes, I ended up having a beer at the break, which in the end was only half drunk as I noticed a fly had decided to take a dip in it – very off-putting. Heading out for the second half and within the first five minutes Barnet could have scored not just one, not two but three more goals, but missed them all and we are left wondering a draw would be a pretty good result at this rate.

The 57th minute saw the substitution of Tombo on for Ajiboye and within seconds of coming on he's changed the game. His first touch of nodding down JC's long diagonal ball made the assist for the league’s now top scorer Harry Beautyman, on his usual late burst into the box to slot the ball into the top left corner for the equaliser.  This gave Sutton the impetus to get the winner and what I have noticed in the pre-season is that our set pieces particularly corners have got a lot better – so much that JC was unlucky not to have converted with a header from a Rob Milsom ball in. Beautyman could have also had a second himself on the night but his shot was excellently saved by former England goalkeeper Scott Loach.

Pressure

On fair reflection, a draw was probably the correct result for both with Barnet dominating the first half and the U’s mostly dominating the second – like I said a game of two halves in front of 1761 supporters.

Heading to the bar, HAVANT Nicky Beckwith mentions that Havant have come back from 3-1 down to be winning 4-3; and three of the four goals are of course by ex-Sutton players! National League South though haha!  Tatey is reminded again that he is a bit of a jinx and I recall that Mr X told him to go home at half time as well. Poor old Tatey, he’s a good lad after all. After the heavy weekend trip, it’s an early night for all and everyone says goodbye to one another after a pint.

Spoils shared

Thoughts now turn to Saturday’s home game against newly promoted Chorley, who are yet to concede let alone score this season with both their matches ending 0-0. Should be interesting then.

Wise men say….

Robbo