Gander Green Lane - Sutton United F.C - 2010
I took in this winter fixture which offered the chance for Sutton and Kingston to reacquaint themselves. Kingstonian had not met Sutton in a league fixture for quite some time and a substantial crowd of just over 700 were in attendance to soak up the atmosphere!
Among the masses were myself and friend quite keen to spend time away from his girlfriend in the flat he owns round the corner. We missed the first 10 minutes owing to drinking and me catching up with my dad's old friends. Apparently the split allegiances in the Worcester Park sorting office amongst the postmen was causing quite the stir below the main stand. The steward had to come in and look menacing.
GGL is a classic non league ground. A lot of the terracing was built for the FA cup fixture against Don Revie's Leeds United but the main stand is an antique. There is also a new terrace with a roof which looks a bit like a shoebox. The pitch is miles from the touchline relatively, what was once a greyhound track i'd imagine. One of my favourite grounds if you look over Sutton's unfortunate kit colour scheme!
As for the rivalry between the two teams, well for Kingston it is a local derby. Sutton fans however would be more inclined to look towards their neighbours Carlshalton Athletic for a true rivalry. No matter, a relatively high crowd is perhaps indicative of the draw of this particular tie.
The first half was rubbish. I haven't been to GGL for a good few years now and by all accounts getting to the bar for half time is quite challenging. Dave took the initiative and we ran out the back of the stand and down a flight of stairs. We were the only ones not in suits and it was soon apparent this was some sort of executive suite.
No matter, we eventually found the bar. In typical fashion we missed the first 20 minutes of the half, emerging to see Kingstonian score in front of a sizeable travelling following and then Sutton grab a deserved equaliser.
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