Sutton moved off the foot of Sky Bet League Two with a 1-0 win at local rivals AFC Wimbledon – their first away league victory for 10 months.
Jason Goodliffe enjoyed his first win as interim boss thanks to Omar Sowunmi’s second-half goal at Plough Lane.
Alex Bass turned a close-range Ben Goodliffe shot around a post early in the first half and came to the rescue again as Harry Smith led another assault on the home team’s goal.
For Wimbledon, James Tilley had a low shot saved by Dean Bouzanis and Ali Al-Hamadi flashed a header over the crossbar. He came close again in the second half with a fierce shot that was diverted wide by Sutton’s Joe Kizzi.
Shortly after Bass had denied Omari Patrick from a narrow angle, Sutton scored the goal they deserved just after the hour when a Ryan Jackson throw-in bounced across goal and was headed in by Sowunmi.
As the home side looked for an equaliser, Al-Hamadi sent a header straight at Bouzanis from Armani Little’s cross.
Sutton saw out eight minutes of stoppage time to give their hopes of avoiding the drop a boost, although Paul Kalambayi’s overhead-kick in the last seconds bounced agonisingly wide.
