Truro City are aiming to cause an FA Cup upset at Sutton United to reach the First Round Proper for only the second time ever. The National League South side, who sit fifth in the league table with 21 points, are full of belief they can replicate their historic 2017 run.
Manager John Askey is eager to match that achievement. "That's what attracts us to it, everyone wanting the underdog to win," he said. The club enters the tie buoyed by a strong league position and the memory of a 3-0 win at Sutton's ground last season, though they lost 1-0 there in their most recent meeting on 17 October.
Team changes and injuries
Askey made four changes for that recent cup tie due to a spate of fitness issues. Connor Riley-Lowe and Tyler Harvey were injured, Max Kinsey was ill, and Tom Tweedy dropped to the bench. Yassine En-Neyah was then injured in the warm-up, allowing Ben Starkie to come into the side. The club's current injury list reflects these ongoing fitness concerns.
Despite creating chances, including a Temi Babalola header that went wide and a Jack Stretton effort that went narrowly past the post, Truro could not find a breakthrough. Sutton's Emmanuel Osadebe scored the only goal after 32 minutes, ending City's cup hopes for this season.
Assistant boss Stewart Yetton expressed frustration after the defeat, stating the team should have got something from the game. He cited the difficulty of managing sickness and injuries over the preceding week, along with the challenge of back-to-back away trips. Yetton explained, detailing a disrupted preparation that saw the squad travel to Sutton on the day of the game.
He also highlighted specific missed opportunities, noting that striker Jack Stretton had a golden chance to equalise late on but fired over from close range. Yetton praised the team's effort and organisation but lamented the lack of a clinical finish, saying the performance deserved at least a replay.
The focus now returns to the league, where Truro's form reads three wins, one draw and one loss from their last five matches. The club remains determined to use the confidence from their cup performances to push on in the National League South, where they are just four points off the top. Their immediate attention turns to their next league fixture, an away trip to face second-placed Maidstone United, where they will aim to close that gap. The team has shown resilience, with goalkeeper James Hamon making several key saves in recent matches to secure points, and the squad is now working on converting more of the chances they create, having averaged 12 goal attempts per game over the last month.
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