The U’s will compete in League Two for the first time in their history after they secured the National League title on the penultimate weekend of a dramatic season.
With the title won, Sutton United could afford a low-octane performance against Barnet with two second-half goals giving the Bees a deserved end-of-season victory against the champions.
The triumph, secured last Sunday with a resounding 3-0 victory over Hartlepool United, will go down as one of the greatest Non-League stories ever fold.
Sutton are on the cusp of clinching the National League title with two games to play and in doing so would produce one of the best success stories in Non- League football.
Goals in either half from Craig Eastmond and Donovan Wilson – coupled with Torquay United’s 0-0 home draw with Sutton’s local rivals Bromley – means Matt Gray’s men are now just two points behind the leaders with a game in hand.
Rowe had played every minute for the U’s at the start of the season as they made their early mark on the National League and took to the pitch again as a second half substitute in their 4-0 victory at Altrincham.
Matt Gray’s U’s looked every bit a Football League side in waiting as they rallied to a first win in five matches at the expense of the shell-shocked Robins.
Gray and Goodliffe will now head into the business end of the season boosted by the reward of contract extensions and club chairman Bruce Elliott praised the duo for their “tremendous work ethic” after they put pen to paper.
Assistant manager Jason Goodliffe and his centre-back son Ben are loving life together with the U’s as they bid to reach the Football League for the very first time.
Luke Garrard’s draw specialists defended like trojans to force a rare shut-out on the leaders, but couldn’t make it count the other end as Sutton extended their unbeaten run to 13 league matches.