On a day when Sutton's decision to sack reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw might have come back to haunt them against Torquay United, the U's managed to come away from Plainmoor with all three points.
Shaw had been dismissed by the club after he was filmed eating a pie during the live television coverage of their fifth round FA Cup tie with Arsenal, an incident which is being investigated by the Gambling Commission due to a bookmaker placing odds of 8/1 of him doing so.
First choice keeper Ross Worner was forced off after 18 minutes after injuring himself trying to save Luke Young's 40-yard strike in the 14th minute. This prompted right-back Simon Downer to take over between the sticks, but despite this Torquay were unable to add to their tally as they went at the half-time break at 1-1 as Roarie Deacon equalised for the visitors.
In the second half, the Gulls finally managed to find a way past Downer 19 seconds after the restart when Brett Williams slotted the ball under the stand-in keeper from close range to score his sixth goal of the season - making him United's top scorer for the season outright with six goals.
However, just when the Gulls seemed to be in the ascendency, Sutton struck back as Maxime Biamou equalised with a shot that hit the under side of the bar and Gulls' defender Sean McGinty's head before going in.
With ten minutes to go, it turned out to be Torquay's inability not to test Downer more, rather than Sutton's dismissal of Shaw, that came back to bite them on the backside as Sutton defender Dean Beckwith turned home a free-kick from Nicky Bailey to seal the win for the visitors - only their second victory on the road this season.
The result leaves the Gulls just one point above the drop zone and with games against Solihull Moors and Guiseley coming up next, it's a worrying position to be in.
