ALDERSHOT TN 2, SUTTON UTD 2

ULTIMATELY, Aldershot were relieved to take a point from a four-goal humdinger against Sutton United on Tuesday.

All the goals came in the first half, with honours evenly shared and Aldershot twice coming from behind.

But Paul Doswell’s Sutton were comfortably the better side in the second half and had the chances to win at least 5-2.

The Shots’ biggest let-off came on 66 minutes when Josh Taylor’s measured cross found Ross Lafayette unmarked right in front of a yawning goal. Everyone in the ground expected the net to bulge, but the former Shot headed wide and then held his head in disbelief.

From the start, it was clear that Aldershot were up against something very different to the somewhat ponderous challenge offered by Tranmere on Saturday.

Sutton, who held the highest place in their history when they topped the National League during August, were fast, cohesive and well-organised, and in Craig Dundas and Taylor they had two highly mobile and dangerous attackers who increasingly dictated play in the second half.

Slick they might have been, but Sutton’s goals were both routine headers from crosses that Aldershot should have defended better.

“We’d spoken about their strength with headers two minutes before the lads left the dressing-room, and within five minutes we’ve conceded – I’m not happy with that,” said Gary Waddock. “We have to deal better with set plays.”

From the first corner of the game, swung in by Taylor, the Shots failed to pick up Louis John who scored with a towering header.

But Aldershot responded with a spell of sustained pressure and Sutton looked vulnerable as Cheye Alexander and Adam McDonnell found space to bomb down the flanks.

It took them only 10 minutes to find the equaliser. Shamir Fenelon darted down the right before cutting the ball inside for Bernard Mensah to score with a deft backheel at the near post.

Sutton realised they could not afford to sit back and, thereafter, both sides put the accent on attack in a remarkably open game.

The nippy Tommy Wright could have restored the visitors’ lead, dragging his angled shot high, but another lethal one-two did put them back in front on the half-hour.

John was again involved, whipping in a cross from the right, and Craig Dundas emerged from the pack to head past Jake Cole.

The Shots were lucky not to concede from another corner, Kieron Cadogan heading narrowly over when he had a clear chance to make it 3-1, but Sutton also had a lucky escape when Jamie Butler made a flying save with his feet to deny Mensah.

Three minutes before half-time, Aldershot were offered a way back by Jamie Collins whose senseless shove on Scott Rendell at a corner yielded a penalty. Rendell calmly sent Butler the wrong way and the sides went in all-square.

That was the end of the scoring, although the pace never slackened in an often frenetic second half. Sutton, pushing for a top-three slot, did everything but score in a 20-minute spell. Dean Beckwith skied his shot when he should have hit the target and Wright, latching onto another precision pass from Taylor, saw his angled drive glance off the crossbar.

Then came Lafayette’s glaring miss and it spurred Aldershot into a better phase as Waddock drew on a strong bench, introducing Fabien Robert, Shaun Okojie and new loan signing Cameron Pring.

Sutton were nearly punished for their profligacy in the 83rd minute when James Rowe’s inswinging corner was met cleanly by Rendell and only a fortuitous block kept the ball out of the net.

Aldershot had to do more last-ditch defending during four minutes of added time, but they survived to continue their unbeaten run in October.

“It was a point gained,” admitted manger Waddock. “Sutton are a strong outfit and you can see why they’ve done so well this season. You have to give credit to the way they set themselves up. They came with a formation to hurt us and also to stop us playing. We didn’t hit the levels we wanted to hit.”

Aldershot: Cole; Alexander, Evans, Reynolds, McDonnell; Gallagher (Pring 72), Oyeleke; Fenelon (Robert 60), Mensah (Okojie 72), Rowe; Rendell. Subs (not used): Fowler, Smith. Booked: Mensah, Pring

Sutton Utd: Butler, John, Bailey, Beckwith, Collins, Davis, Taylor, Wright (Jeffrey 88), Lafayette, Dundas (Coombes 88), Cadogan. Booked: Bailey, Collins, Dundas, Davis. Subs (not used): Spence, Walton, Brown.

Referee: Alan Young.

Attendance: 2,259 (205 away).

• Aldershot make the long journey to Cumbria and a match against struggling Barrow this Saturday.