Frimley Green (0) 0, Guildford City (0) 0
by Barry Underwood
Just like London buses! You wait 172 matches for a 0-0 result to come along and then blow me you get two in three matches. It’s fair to say this wasn’t a classic encounter. Both sides defended stubbornly and clear chances at either end were limited, and although Guildford had the better of the chances they failed to unduly trouble Ricky Borrett in the home goal. During the first period City did enjoy good possession but still ball distribution was too wasteful. Too often promising moves lost their momentum in the final third. On 11 minutes Ryan Dacres-Smith darted forward out of midfield and shot just wide from long range. Five minutes later Dan Harding jinked through several challenges, and via Stef Joseph the ball fell to Josh Ogunseye who fired over from the edge of the box. Cyril Ocansey saw a power shot deflected wide on the half-hour, whilst Josh Ogunseye saw a direct free-kick sail high over the bar. City’s best chance of the half came on 37 minutes when Stef Joseph headed agonisingly just wide from Josh Ogunseye’s cross. The home side’s best chance came on the stroke of half-time following a moment’s hesitation in the visitor’s defence, when Nathan Thomas hooked the ball over the bar.
Early in the second period Cyril Ocansey battled to the by-line but the chance was wasted with Benga Ogunseye waiting for the ball to be laid back. Guildford’s injury woes were added to on 54 minutes when Luke Beale limped off with an ankle injury to be replaced by Isy Nzelo. Frimley enjoyed more possession after the break and the visitor’s struggled to make in-roads. Suddenly the speedy Eli Ogunseye fired into life on the right. His cross from the right was met first time by Benga Ogunseye, but his effort just cleared the crossbar. Late in the game there was consternation in the visitor’s defence when a mistimed clearance seemed certain to have set Frimley up to score. But determined last ditch defending kept the scores level. In stoppage time Ben Cotton shot narrowly over following another Ocansey run. But when the whistle blew it was hard to argue against this being a fair result. Special credit to Josh Ogunseye who gave everything in the cause despite suffering a hamstring injury after all of the replacements had been used.
Team: Zack Basey, Shaun Mason, Josh Ogunseye, Ryan Dacres-Smith, Leevan Sullivan, Luke Beale (Isy Nzelo 54), Eli Ogunseye, Dan Harding (Alex Cooper 67), Benga Ogunseye, Stefan Joseph (Ben Cotton 72), Cyril Ocansey. Unused subs: Jamie Phillips, Stuart Norman.
Referee: Dele Sotimirin
