Sutton Coldfield Tn 3, Evesham Utd 2

THE only two good things to come out of Tuesday's Dr Martens League Cup tie was that it didn't drag into extra-time and I wasn't called upon to run the line when the referee was carried off early in the second half, writes Mervyn Collins.

A rainswept night at Coles Lane greeted the return of Damien Beattie, Kris Sage and Kevin Rowlands to United's ranks.

And, when Grant Pinkney blasted the Robins into a two-goal lead two minutes after the restart, the new regime looked like making a winning start.

However, Micky Brennan and Paul West could only look on helplessly as Sutton scored three times in 18 minutes to make it a trio of first hurdle knockout exits this season.

Rowlands gave the front line much needed hustle and bustle, while Beattie's safe hands and Linton Bailey's no nonsense defending gave the spine of Evesham's side a far stronger appearance.

Craig Ball gave the visitors the lead after eight minutes with a shot that crept inside Justin Bray's near post, while Rowlands, Pinkney and Mark Shepherd all lacked finesse when handed a sight of goal.

Beattie wasn't seriously tested as the new-look Robins left the pitch after an encouraging 45 minutes.

Ball's 40-yard pass was latched on to by Pinkney who gave Brennan and West a double boost but the tie turned on the five-minute delay when Mr Morrison was carried off and the switch of Sutton defender Kevin Jones into a midfield role.

One of the referee's final acts was to disallow Sean Flynn's netted free-kick with a teammate standing in an offside position but, when Marvin Blake fired in a loose ball after 64 minutes, the revival was on.

Beattie denied the scorer a second but the goalkeeper was left helpless to keep out Danny Martin's curler 10 minutes later.

Jones almost gave Sutton the lead a minute later after the best move of the match but he wasn't to be denied eight minutes from time following a free-kick.

Ball's 30-yard volley and sub Paul Oakey's run and shot in stoppage-time came closest to taking the game into overtime on what was a miserable night in more ways than one.