Express & Star

Sutton Coldfield 3 Rushall Olympic 4 – report

A late Richard Brodie penalty gave Rushall Olympic all three points in an entertaining Evo-Stik Premier derby at Sutton Coldfield, which finished in a 4-3 success for the Pics.

Published

Rushall got off to a flier thanks to skipper Joe Hull, who rose up highest to nod home a sixth-minute Gurjit Singh corner. The scores were level again on 14 minutes courtesy of a Justin Richards penalty. The Sutton front man kept his cool to send Pics keeper Jahquil Hill the wrong way.

The home side could have taken the lead on 20 minutes when Michael Townsend nodded down a long ball for Lee Smith, whose subsequent shot went high and wide from 15 yards out.

Hill ensured the score remained level at half-time when he acrobatically tipped wide a Matt Waters half-volley after the ball fell to the Sutton Coldfield man from a long throw in first-half stoppage time.

The Royals took an early lead in the second half when Justin Richards glanced a header past Jahquil Hill from a 47th-minute corner. The Pics got their equaliser three minutes later. New boy Josh Sarmento curled an effort off the inside of the post from 20 yards out and another debutant, Daniel Dubidat, nodded home into an empty net.

Dubidat bagged an almost identical goal in the 65th minute. This time it was Danny Waldron who saw his excellent long-range effort cannon off the woodwork into the path of Dubidat, who headed over the helpless Jono Brown to make it 3-2.

Sutton grabbed their second equaliser of the game in the 72nd minute when David Howarth held the ball up in the box before squeezing a shot away. His effort deflected agonisingly out of reach of Hill and into the bottom corner.

The Pics got a dramatic late winner when Brodie was taken down in the box by Jono Brown in stoppage time. The forward picked himself up to fire home past the Sutton keeper to give Rushall three points.