Rusthall recorded their largest league victory of the season so far with a comprehensive 5-0 win over Sutton Athletic. A hat-trick from Charlie Clover saw him pass the 30-goal mark for the season and Jack Lyons scored a brace to continue his fine run of form and win the battle against his good friend Jack Glassborow in goal for the away side. A bright, sunny afternoon was enjoyed by a healthy crowd of 260 who were in fine voice throughout and guests from sponsors, Crestala Fencing, enjoyed the new hospitality offer in the Derek Seal suite, a popular new addition to the matchday experience at The Jockey Farm Stadium.

With captain Robbie Bissett returning to the side, it was a familiar-looking team which took to the field accompanied by enthusiastic mascots from the youth teams and from the off, it was clear this was a game which would be pretty much one-sided. Jack Kirby got things started with a superb cross field pass to Jack Lyons who was able to wait for the ball to be ready before seeing his shot smothered by Glassborow. Kirby went close from range after receiving a clever pass from Bissett in the centre of the park and then Charlie Clover headed wide following a spell of incisive football involving Yassin Fares, Jack Kirby and Jack Lyons which proved to be fair warning of the quality that was to prove Sutton’s downfall.

The opening goal duly arrived just before the half hour mark and it all began with Dan Blunn at the back whose fine clearance down the right channel found the ever-willing Jack Lyons who immediately looked to cause problems for the latest full back unfortunate enough to be tasked with stopping him. Even with the assistance of a teammate, Lyons couldn’t be halted and his low cross found Charlie Clover- he was blocked initially but Clover was in no mood to be denied and he simply picked himself up and banged the ball home. The floodgates were open- Lyons saw a shot fly just over the bar and Clover almost found the net again with a left-footed strike but just four minutes after the opener, Rusthall had doubled their lead. Frank Griffin played the ball forward this time and Jack Lyons had time to look up. Louis Anderson’s clever run took defenders away, Charlie Clover’s clever run took him away from defenders, and his firm shot was past Glassborow before he could react.

The Rustics were denied a penalty shortly after- Jack Lyons hit the post with a clever shot and when the ball fell to Jack Kirby, his effort was blocked, in the opinion of the referee, fairly by the Sutton defender- no matter, it wasn’t long before Jack Lyons and Charlie Clover swapped roles, Clover turning provider for Lyons this time having received the ball via a dominant header from Robbie Bissett. A flick round a despairing tackle saw him with time to look up and play a QB style pass to Jack Lyons who had beaten the last line of defence. The rest was made to look incredibly straightforward though it was far from being so- Lyons turned inside the defender and stroked the ball into the far corner from outside the box and it was a deserved 3-0 lead for Rusthall. It was 4-0 before the break and again, there wasn’t much of a gap between the goals. Mustafa Hashemi, so consistent this season, began this one with fine work to hold off the attacker and play a clever pass up to Yassin Fares, waiting with intent on the left wing. Fares played a superb through ball which took out the whole of the Sutton defence and Jack Lyons was in again- this time, he elected to lob the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to put Rusthall into a commanding position. This was enough for the Sutton left back who was unceremoniously hooked, possibly for his own good.

With the points secure, the second half was a less eventful affair- Frank Griffin shot narrowly over with his latest effort from range, Jack Lyons had a chance with a free kick and the gloss was added to a strong performance when Clover bagged his hattrick on 66 minutes. Having scored two goals on five occasions this season, he added to the hattrick he bagged against Meridian in the cup back in November by finishing well from a delightful pass from Louis Anderson who briefly found himself in the Number 10 position. The smile had definitely returned to the face of Rusthall’s number 9 and all in green and white were able to enjoy the rest of the game- Yassin Fares and Mustafa Hashemi enjoyed themselves,causing havoc on the left hand side; Sutton’s Arlie Desanges, so prolific when he played in Division 1, was able only to kick out rather than cause any threat, and Serene Sanneh was able to enjoy the sunshine untroubled other than a few late crosses which he claimed with ease.

A bit of nonsense at the final whistle saw the Sutton coach sent off and, somehow, Jack Lyons yellow carded but nothing could take away from another dominant and important victory for Rusthall. With four tricky games to come, three points here was a must and Jimmy Anderson and his players delivered. A trip to second place VCD Athletic who lost at Lydd Town today is up next and a big away following is expected once again to help support the team.

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