Guildford City edged out highly rated opponents Hanworth Villa in a tight match at Spectrum. City took an early leader when Corey Holder headed home from a corner, but were pegged back after half an hour when a shot from Levi King was unfortunately deflected into his own net by Tony Chaplin. Shortly before the break, Ben Rayner finished off a neat move which proved to be the winning goal following a tense but goalless second half.
The home side came out of the blocks quickly and Jaydon Gibbs forced a save from Terry Buss in the Villains’ goal inside a minute. Corey Holder then nodded City ahead in the third minute when he leapt highest to meet a Ben Rayner corner. The game became more balanced with both sides having half chances. Tony Chaplin took a shot to the body to prevent a Villa attempt on goal, but Hanworth Villa levelled later on when Levi King struck a powerful shot that deflected off Chaplin to beat Hall. In the 43rd minute, a quick free kick found its way to Ben Rayner who had no difficult in slotting past Buss. City may have been able to go in at the break with more goals but had two chances cleared off the line.
In the second half, Hanworth tried in vain to find an equalising goal. City weathered the storm and attacked quickly when they had the chance. Hanworth gave the hosts two heart-in-mouth moments, the first when Lawrie Shennan hit a low shot that rebounded off a post and rolled along the goalline behind Antony Hall. The other came in the final minutes, when Shennan pulled a cross back across goal but it escaped a finishing touch.
Guildford City:
Antony Hall, Elvis Defreitas, Ben Rayne [capt], Tom Penson (Dan Clayton 70), Jamie Thoroughgood, Corey Holder, Dan Moody, Tony Chaplin, Austin Gacheru, Joel Hughes (Jack Guilford 67), Jaydon Gibbs (Luke Bradnick 62).
Unused substitutes: Corey Knight, Martin Debrah
Cautions: Tom Penson, Luke Bradnick, Jack Guilford
