There was a sad exit to the FA Cup preliminary’s this Saturday at Guildford Spectrum as Guildford City FC were unable to lift their performance on the day and, thus, rather limply exited the Game’s prestige cup competition to Ashford United. Once again several late withdrawals from the squad hindered City’s preparation for the match and certainly for much of the game, the home side seemingly struggled to get out of first gear. Credit though to Ashford United who are a more than competent side and looked as if they might be playing at Step Four next season.
In the first period especially, City certainly enjoyed good possession but the cohesion that had previously been seen in the side was lacking. So, on 11 minutes a pass inside the home defence saw Gary Clarke in a good position, but his effort could only graze the outside of the post. Shortly after, the same player missed from another good position and in fact, Ashford twice missed other half-chances in the opening 25 minutes.
In response to this City probed away, but were unfortunately often guilty of being caught in possession. That said, the home side’s best chance came on the half hour mark when Khari Oriogun’s cross fell to Sam Spencer whose left foot effort from close range was saved by Joe Mant’s legs. Then, minutes before the interval, City had an opportunity to take the lead against the run of play when Anthony Baker and Khari Oriogun combined to give Sam Spencer a shooting chance, which sadly was deflected wide for a corner.
HALF TIME: Guildford City 0 – Ashford United 0
Early in the second half Ashford made up for their profligacy in the first period when Kieran Byrne gained possession some 22 yards from goal and his excellent curling effort found the corner of the net with Antony Hall rooted to the spot. And then, on 52 minutes Hall saved brilliantly with his legs with Ashford players queuing up to put the ball home. Not heeding this warning, City’s defence opened up again a minute later; this time Kieran Byrne slotting home from close range. A very poor opening 15 minutes from the home side and no one could argue with the 0-2 score line at this point!
Guildford were clearly struggling to come to terms with the second-half and the home side seemed rattled having conceding goals at the onset of the half. The arrival of debutant Navid Zandi from the bench did give Guildford a lift and three times in five minutes efforts from Khari Oriogun, Anthony Baker and Sam Spencer forced visiting keeper Mant into action, however, none could force a breakthrough. Navid Zandi’s half volley over the bar was City’s last effort and there was no disguising the fact from officials, players and supporters alike that Guildford had dropped innocuously out of the FA Cup.
Team: Antony Hall, Elvis Defreitas, Liam Talbot, David Unwin (Tyler Chambers 86), Tom Penson, Ben Rayner (Ryan Wallis 87), Anthony Baker, Jack Guilford, Sam Spencer, Khari Oriogun, Jordan Taylor (Navid Zandi 56). Unused subs: Bruce McPhail, Junior Alade, Nuno Pereira, Aaron Hennessy.
Yellow cards: Sam Spencer, Jack Guilford, Tom Penson
Red cards: Nil
Referee: Craig Simpson
Attendance: 112
Barry Underwood