Sutton United returned to winning ways with a hard fought victory at Slough Town's Wexham Park on Saturday, writes Dominic Aslangul.

United had an early scare at Slough when Engwell's cross was stabbed home by Hall in the area, only to be disallowed for offside.

But United took the lead on 17 minutes with their first real chance of the game. Nko Ekoku's defence-splitting throughball sent Mark Watson clear, and the composed United forward made no mistake from ten yards, lashing the ball home to give Sutton the edge.

Soon after, Mark Watson again found himself clean through after an excellent pass from Harlow, but this time keeper Wilkerson made the save to ensure the scoreline remained 1-0 at the break.

Within minutes of the restart, United stretched their lead when Ekoku again turned provider. This time the striker sent in an excellent cross from wide on the left which fell perfectly for Mark Watson to head home his second goal of the afternoon.

With a two-goal cushion, United sat back and had to withstand periods of intense pressure from the Berkshire side. United's goalkeeper Gareth Howells looked to have made a costly mistake when he spilled Hammatt's effort late on, but he managed to make amends and scooped the ball round a post to safety.

On 85 minutes, Slough's pressure finally paid off when the home side grabbed a late consolation goal. Substitute Denton's thunderous effort came back off the post for Hammat to fire home and spark a late Town onlsaught. Fortunately for Sutton it was a case of too little too late, and a relieved United held on for a crucial victory that reginites hopes of Conference football at Gander Green Lane next season.

With St Albans suffering a home defeat to Gravesend, United remain fourth in the Ryman Premier, but are just one point behind the Saints, and four points behind leaders Aylesbury, who continued their impressive form with a 6-1 away thrashing of Boreham Wood.

With no game on Saturday, United must wait until next Tuesday to find out if they can turn their dreams into reality when Gravesend arrive at Gander Green Lane. On Tuesday, Sutton were finally due to play their Senior Cup tie with Redhill. Another postponment will force United to rule out next week's league clash in favour of the cup compeition.

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