Sutton United made it three Blue Square Bet South victories in a row on Tuesday with a hard-earned 1-0 success at Maidenhead.

The hosts, in the midst of a relegation fight having now lost eight of the last nine, were beaten by Criag Dundas's penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Having fielded the same team for the past three games, United were forced in to a change with Harry Beautyman beginning his three-match suspension.

However, Anthony Riviere had recovered from injury to return to the side, and he completed three quarters of the game before being substituted after a heavy tackle for which David Pratt picked up the second of four Maidenhead bookings.

Pratt looked the likeliest threat to United, and in the 12th minute a lack of concentration from Sam Rents allowed him to break free on the right, but Rents recovered well and combined with Tom Lovelock to block the resulting shot.

The same player also tested Lovelock with a volley from a free kick, but otherwise Sutton were the better side in the first half.

Marvin Williams led the way cutting in from the left to fire a 20-yard shot that was turned round the post by Billy Lumley at full stretch.

The keeper was also given credit for tipping a long-range Rents effort over the bar five minutes later, although the touch was not obvious to the naked eye, and as Sutton turned up the pressure Turley also blocked a Dundas volley.

It was Dundas who had United’s best chance two minutes before half time when good work by Dean Sinclair and James Folkes allowed Elliot Wheeler to whip in a superb cross that saw Dundas, under pressure, send a flying header wide.

However, the big striker did break the deadlock on the stroke of half time as he won, and then converted a penalty.

The award came after Dundas chased a pass that defender Rhys Paul looked to be ushering out for a goal-kick but Dundas kept the ball in before the two collided.

It was a fine time to score, and another goal in the second half playing down the slope would surely have put the game beyond Maidenhead’s reach, but Lumley came to their rescue with a fine full-length save that matched the quality of James Folkes’s first time angled volley.

The introduction of Reece Tison-Lascaris and Harry Pritchard bolstered Maidenhead’s attacking efforts, and with his first involvement Tison-Lascaris delivered an excellent cross from the right that Richard Pacquette headed wide when he might have done better to leave it for Pritchard, running in behind him.

Your Local Guardian: Richard Pacquette

Richard Pacquette, left, in his Sutton United days has joined Maidenhead

Tison-Lascaris was only on for 12 minutes, though, before he departed on a stretcher after a strong but fair challenge from Simon Downer, and replacement Romone Rose’s only significant contribution was a booking for throwing himself to the ground in search of a penalty.

It was still a battle for Sutton, who defended well with Jamie Stuart having a fine game, and when Maidenhead did fashion an opening, Lovelock reacted well to beat away Pacquette’s shot at the near post.

That was once the game was in to the eight minutes of stoppage time allowed, but with Maidenhead pouring forward, United had three golden chances to settle the nerves in a frenetic finish.

The most glaring when substitute Kevant Serbonij went through on the left with just Lumley to beat before rolling the ball square to Leroy Griffiths, who seemed to have a tap-in.

Instead returned a pass to Serbonij, whose shot was blocked on the line by Curtis Ujah.

Chris Benjamin saw a shot turned round by Lumley, who also came out to dive at the feet of Sinclair, but it was a sign of the home side’s frustration that the ref's last action before blowing the final whistle was to flash the yellow card at Daniel Brown for an out-of-turn comment.