Guildford City (0) 1, Chessington & Hook United (0) 1
by Barry Underwood
City manager Dean Thomas, his players and Guildford supporters’ were probably scratching their heads at the interval as to how both sides left the field with the score goalless. Seldom has City dominated proceedings so much but yet failed to turn their advantage into the thing that counts the most – goals! During the second period Chessington grew in confidence and enjoyed more possession but still the home side couldn’t kill the game off. Super sub Ibby Akanbi finally put City ahead with 11 minutes remaining and it looked as if that would be enough to earn a place in the next round. Instead the never say die Step six side sensed a chance and deep into stoppage time their own super sub Martin Gange beat Jordan Clement from close range much to the acclaim of his team mates.
Within two minutes of the start Guildford unintentionally came close to taking the lead; Jordan Johnson’s free-kick being miss-handled by Mark Daniels and dropping just past the post. Within minutes both of City’s twin strikers came closing to scoring; Matt Glass cut in from the left and shot just wide before Perry Coles blazed over after intricate approach work. It was very much one way traffic and Jordan Johnson saw a 20 yard effort zip narrowly past the post. On 31 minutes following a corner Perry Coles powerful effort was blocked at full stretch, and two minutes later Jordan Johnson again had a chance. This time his curling effort from the edge of the box forced Daniels into a spectacular save. As the half came towards its end Chessington reminded everybody that there were two sides in the match when Aaron Agyeman shot over the bar when well placed. In fact the best chance of the half came in its last minute. Matt Glass’s pace took him clear of the defence. Glass successfully rounded Daniels but a Chessington defender incredibly got back to clear Glass’s effort off the line.
The opening of the second half saw Matt Glass threatening again and after cutting in his shot was saved by Daniels. The visitors looked more confident and certainly were enjoying more possession. Clear chances at either end though were becoming few and far between. On the hour Jordan Clement was forced into a good save to push round a header for a corner but still Guildford looked in control. Spencer Forte entered off the bench and added extra punch in midfield, but it was the addition of Ibby Akanbi off the bench that forced the breakthrough. With virtually his first touch on 79 minutes Akanbi latched onto Jordan Johnson’s pass, turned inside a defender and shot home from 12 yards. It seemed that this single goal would be enough to take City through to the next round. Matt Glass, whose luck was certainly not in, smashed an effort against the crossbar and in the final minute of regulation time Perry Coles saw a close range effort again blocked at full stretch. To their credit Chessington went forward looking for reward and three minutes into stoppage time a neat flick put Martin Gange into space, and he made no mistake drilling the ball home past Clement much to the adulation of his team-mates. Both sides will now meet again at Chalky Lane on Tuesday evening.
Team: Jordan Clement, Jake Downs (Ibby Akanbi 77), Alex Penfold, Darryl Siaw, Martin Dynan, Greg Haydon, Bobby Dormer, Shawn Clement-Peter (Spencer Forte 63), Perry Coles, Matt Glass, Jordan Johnson. Unused subs: Tom Booth, Andre Morais, Dave Hill.
Referee: Derrick Laing
Attendance – 91
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