Guildford City 0 – 2 Chertsey Town: Match Report

Guildford City (0) 0, Chertsey Town (1) 2
By Jack Underwood

With Chertsey also relegated from the Southern League last season, and only winning one game so far this season, Guildford would have fancied their chances of victory before the game. But the first few seconds of the game certainly didn’t go to plan for Kevin Rayner’s men as straight from kick off Chertsey made it 1-0, when striker John Pomroy tapped in from a poor clearance on the line by Ray Guilford. From the restart Guildford looked unfazed by the early goal as they tried to respond immediately and equalize. City’s first golden opportunity fell to Anthony Baker when his header was cut out on the line by a Chertsey defender. Guildford looked the stronger of the two sides with many missed scoring chances. Oriogun and Spencer both had shots from far out that didn’t trouble Michael White, and Baker’s skillful run into the box was met with a strong challenge before he could make full use of his goal scoring position. Chertsey seemed to have no answer for City’s attacking dominance as they could only muster shots from distance, which didn’t trouble Antony Hall’s goal.

Another goal scoring opportunity was missed when Rayner put in a great ball from a free kick but yet again no one in red and white stripes was there to put it in the back of the net. In the dying minutes of the first half, with Guildford pushing men forward, Chertsey saw an opportunity to counter attack, which led to them winning a corner. It looked like Chertsey had snatched another goal with a thumping header but Hall got down well and stopped it from crossing the line. Hall then quickly released the ball and with great team passing the ball found Spencer who volleyed the ball tamely into the hands of the goalkeeper. There was just time for one more golden opportunity for City to equalize as Ben Rayner found himself through on goal in the box but couldn’t finish as Michael White got down and smothered the ball.

Guildford started the second half as they finished the first and within the first few seconds Rayner whipped the ball into a dangerous position from a corner kick but yet again there was no Guildford player there to meet it. With City still looking to get on the score sheet and pushing more men forward, Chertsey were looking lively on the counter attack. In the 58th minute Ben Rayner received a second yellow card and although now down to 10 men and facing an even steeper uphill battle to get something out of the game, City still looked unfazed after the setback and they pushed on to try and score an equalizer as another cross comes over, this time from Anthony Baker who was causing havoc down the right wing, although the cross was met by Taylor who missed the target by some distance. With time ticking away both Oriogun and Penson tried shots from distance which come to nothing. It seemed as if nothing was going to work for Guildford when in the 74th minute the manager Kevin Rayner was sent from the bench for dissent and in the 81st minute against the run of play, Chertsey’s Cottee scored on the break to make it 2-0.

With a two goal cushion Chertsey pushed more up the field and created more attacking options, keeping the Guildford defence on their toes. An excellent ball from Chertsey left winger Jones made his way into the City box, but was met by an excellent block from Defreitas who cleared the danger. In the 90th minute of the match Penson made room for himself and hit a strong shot from outside the box but it wasn’t enough to trouble the Chertsey goalkeeper; it was the story of the game for Guildford City.

Team: Antony Hall, Elvis Defreitas, Tom Penson, Ray Guilford, Liam Harwood, Ben Rayner, Anthony Baker, Jordan Taylor, Sam Spencer, Khari Oriogun (Ryan Wallis 76), Bruce McPhail (Anthony Bridgeman 65). Unused subs: David Unwin, Junior Alade and Tyler Chambers.

Yellow cards: Antony Hall, Tom Penson, Liam Harwood
Red cards: Ben Rayner (2 x Yellow)

Referee: Harrison Read

Attendance – 173

Post Match Interview with Kevin Rayner Here