Spare a thought for Sutton United supporters. The misery they felt at paying £18 to see their team lose 1-0 at Boreham Wood in the National League on Tuesday night was compounded by the five-and-a-half hours it took to get home.

The journey should have taken 75 minutes to Sutton by train, but horrendous delays and cancellations on the Thameslink line meant they had plenty of time to mull over where it went wrong for them and their team in Hertfordshire.

And all this just three days after they made the 475-mile round journey to see their team lose at bottom-placed North Ferriby United. On the bright side, it only cost £15 entry to see their side go down 2-1 on Saturday.

In a week to forget for United, both matches were attended by crowds of less than 400 and both highlighted how important it is to have a tight defence and to take your chances.

Ferriby punished Sutton for two defensive lapses to condemn the U’s to defeat. French striker Max Biamou reduced the arrears in the 75th minute to give the travelling fans something to cheer about but it was all too little, too late.

Sutton manager Paul Doswell said: “In the first hour we were poor, probably the poorest we’ve been in any away game so far this season.

“It was disappointing to concede the first from a free header.

“Conceding the second in such a poor fashion [giving the ball away close to goal] at the start of the second half was a huge blow. But we didn’t fold, we scored a very good goal, and had so many chances in the closing stages.”

It was a familiar story at Boreham Wood where, having gone behind in the 21st minute, the U’s didn’t have enough firepower to find the all-important equaliser despite going agonisingly close in the closing stages.

Sutton’s cutting edge has been blunted somewhat following the departures of attacking left-back Dan Wishart to Forest Green Rovers in October and winger Ross Stearn to Eastleigh two weeks ago. Both players were key supply chains to the strikers as well as contributors to the goals tally.

Since they thumped Dartford 6-3 in an explosive FA Cup clash on November 5, lady luck has not been on Sutton's side. They've have worked hard to create several clear-cut chances without being able to convert them into goals. 

Doswell has dipped into the transfer market to replace Wishart with highly-rated defender Ben Jefford who makes the switch from Forest Green.

The Sutton boss and those travel-weary fans will be hoping their side rediscovers its eye for goal in the next two home games.

They face mid-table Aldershot Town at Gander Green Lane on Saturday (3pm) and sixth-placed Dover Athletic on Tuesday (7.45pm).

Tickets are available for the FA Cup Second Round tie with Cheltenham Town on December 3. A terrace ticket is £15 (£8 concessions, £3 u16s). More details at suttonunited.net.