Despite leading for a long period, Sutton Coldfield Town failed to hold on to a 1-0 lead and ended up drawing 1-1 with a dogged Whitby outfit, a result that leaves The Royals bottom of the Evo-Stik Premier Division on goal difference.

Aaron Birch had been returned to midfield as Lee Knight partnered Gurjit Singh in attack. The pair fashioned, in the 14th minute, Sutton's first opening: a Knight cutback finds Singh who buries it into the corner of the net to give Sutton a merited advantage.

From the outset, Sutton's attacking intensity was several notches up on the previous week against Lancaster, attacking in numbers and pressing higher up the pitch. The only thing letting Sutton down was the final ball.

As the half meandered on, the visitors found a little fluency and Adam Gell blasted over after neat Whitby build-up.

The last chance of the half went Whitby's way, as Anthony Hulme was repelled by Nicky Draper, the Sutton goalkeeper saving with his feet.

HT: Sutton 1-0 Whitby

Singh, who delivered his best all-round display of the season, was in full stride. He skipped past one and then unleashed a 25-yard shot that narrowly went wide. Moments later and he slipped in Tyler Lyttle with a wonderfully weighted pass that split two Whitby defenders. Fortunately for the visitors Andrew May made a vital intervention to prevent Lyttle pulling the trigger.

Singh was later withdrawn as Richard Sneekes, the Sutton boss, revealed to me that Singh had experienced flu in the build-up to the match.

Whitby began to turn the screw and Sutton were indebted to Draper getting down to his near post and pushing a header round for a corner.

Eventually Whitby's pressure told. James Risborough scored after Sutton failed to clear their box. A frustrating late goal to concede when three points would've seen Sutton climb off the bottom.

FT: Sutton 1-1 Whitby

Brannon's Sutton MOTM: Gurjit Singh

Brannon's Reflections:

1. Heartening to witness greater attacking intensity in this game, although we need to be more careful in possession within the final third.
2. Lee Knight linked up nicely with Singh and exhibited good movement. His performance went down well with the Ultras
3. Our new goalkeeper Nicky Draper is settling quickly. He's produced a string of fine stops and is showing bravery when faced with one-on-one situations.

Next for Sutton is the commencement of our League Cup campaign, a competition we last won in 1999. Our first round opponents are Stafford Rangers, with tickets being available at standard Coles Lane prices. The game kicks off today at 7:45pm. The next league game is on Saturday, a marathon trip to Workington, the scene of our 'great escape'.