Sutton United boss Matt Gray said he was delighted with a point against play-off chasing Carlisle United.

The visiting manager felt his side were well worth their 1-1 draw at Brunton Park.

He felt Sutton had the better of things for spells of the game against Paul Simpson’s hosts.

And he said his side also dealt well with United’s attempts to win the game in the second half, including their “long balls”.

Gray, whose side moved up a place to 17th, said: “We’ll take a point on the road wherever we go, especially against a side who’ve started the season really well.

“They [Carlisle] are around the play-offs at this stage of the season, so we know it’s a tough place to come and they’ve got some good players.

“I thought it was a really good performance and a good point on the road.”

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Sutton were on top in the opening stages before falling behind to a Ryan Edmondson goal.

Will Randall then levelled shortly before half-time.

“It was a really dominant performance, I was pleased with what we were doing – passing it, switching it, getting into some good areas, opening them up, just maybe lacking that bit of quality to carve something clear-cut out,” said Gray in a club interview.

“Out of nothing – they had one counter-attack, but apart from that – it was a corner which we should deal better with, which is unlike us, but it can’t happen. Really disappointed about it.

“But I was really pleased with the response and to go in level at half-time was the least we deserved.

“We came out second half, started quite well, then the game flattened out a bit, we had to deal with their long balls and try to get on seconds.

“But we saw it out very well.

“They had a few corners, and the crowd got behind them, and that’s when you call upon your keeper. He [Jack Rose] did really well there.

“We defend as a team and all round we were very solid.”

Sutton were backed by just 70 fans in Cumbria – and Gray praised the dedication of the travelling support from south London for the 1pm kick-off.

“Absolutely superb, great support and we really thank them for coming up,” he added.

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