We are where we want to be – Matt Gray urges Sutton to finish the job

Posted Wednesday, April 27, 2022 by PA

Matt Gray urged his Sutton side to keep up their performance levels after a 3-0 win over Crawley.

Alistair Smith scored twice with Richie Bennett also on target as Sutton bounced back from Saturday’s defeat to Barrow and stayed in the top seven with two games remaining.

Gray said: “We needed a reaction from the weekend and I thought we were excellent tonight and deserved the win. This is a key win for us and keeps us where we want to be in the table.

“We have two tough games ahead and cannot take anything for granted. We will have to keep working hard and fighting.

“We have worked hard all season to get into this position and we need to go and finish the job off now.

“It is important we keep up the level of performance that we have produced tonight.”

Smith put Sutton ahead after just four minutes with a long-range strike and United doubled their advantage three minutes later when Bennett headed home.

Aramide Oteh fired wide with Crawley’s best chance after pouncing on a rebound in the first half, and Smith wrapped up the points with another empathic finish five minutes from time to boost United’s play-off hopes.

“You cannot ask for a better start than what we got and I thought we were worthy winners,” said Gray.

“We looked solid defensively and I don’t think they really caused us much trouble throughout the game.

“I was pleased with our tempo tonight. We moved the ball well and we looked good when we went forward.

“Alistair took his goals well tonight, they were really good finishes. We know what he is capable of and he has shown what he can do tonight. He gave us a real spark tonight.”

Temporary Crawley boss Lewis Young said his side had shot themselves in the foot.

Young, deputising with John Yems suspended over allegations of racist language towards his players, said: “It is not an easy place to come and the last thing you can afford to do is go 2-0 down so early on. It is very frustrating to have got off to such a poor start.

“The preparations we did for this match went straight out of the window and then it becomes a massive uphill task for us to get anything from the game from that point.

“We could have buckled under the pressure but we held firm and got back into the game. Perhaps it might have been different if Aramide had taken his chance.

“We kept at it in the second half and the boys dug in, but we lacked that bit of quality we needed in the final third.

“They are where they are for a reason and it was a tough night against a very good team. We want to end the season on a high and win our last two games.

“We will move on from tonight and focus on getting six more points.”