Guildford City (1) 2, Hanworth Villa (0) 1
By Barry Underwood.
Unlike Tuesday’s encounter at Hartley Wintney this relegation six pointer was no flamboyant classic. Scrappy though it was City still had enough… just…. to come through and steal the points with just two minutes left on the clock. With both sides filling the two bottom places it was sure to be a tight affair and so it proved. Losing three players to illness during the morning of the game didn’t help Guildford’s cause though and the late call up of former Guildford Saint Harry Shipton and City Junior Josh Everard saw City start the match with a vastly reshuffled side. It was no surprise then that City’s play would lack the cohesion of recent displays and Hanworth certainly enjoyed more possession, and found more space in the middle of the park. However any side with a front line of Baker, Stewart and Ramizi has the potential to strike quickly and after 18 minutes City went ahead when Florin Ramizi latched onto a defensive error to break away and guide the ball home beyond Buss in the visitor’s goal. Although Hanworth enjoyed considerable possession their final ball was often lacking and clear chances on goal were kept to a minimum. As the half-time interval approached City had their best spell of the match. Dan Stewart’s run and teasing cross from the left was just too far in advance of the City strike force, and moments later Guildford City should have gone two goals ahead. Anthony Baker had wriggled free of the Villa back-line and as he bore down on goal his effort was deflected for a corner by a desperate lunging tackle. From the resulting corner Anthony Baker headed home at the far post and with the referee seemingly the only person in the ground to see a problem, the “goal” was disallowed.
Hanworth started the second period refreshed and within minutes came close after a half clearance in defence. Villa were not to be denied long though. Duane Antonio’s run beyond the defence was well timed and his chipped finish was perfectly executed. Hanworth sensed this was their moment and a similar run from Antonio saw Liam Beach save well with his legs. For City this was a time for a steadying influence and skipper Jack Collins was the man for the occasion, leading by example and looking absolutely rock like in the centre of defence. Like the first period it wasn’t all one way traffic and City still were dangerous on the break. A goal bound volley from debutant Everard hit the head of a defender and moments later a fine overlapping run in the box by Bruce McPhail saw his cross sadly over hit. Just when most at the Spectrum had settled for a point a moment of magic from young substitute Kiyanu Pillay turned the game in Guildford’s favour. A neat back flick took him past his marker and his pace took him into the box where his cross cum shot was converted at the far post by Anthony Baker. A little harsh perhaps on Hanworth whose general play probably deserved a draw, but in the dog eat dog world at the foot of the table it is another three valuable points for Guildford City.
Team: Liam Beach, Bruce McPhail, Harry Shipton, Myles Jones (Kiyanu Pillay 62), Jack Collins, Tadej Venta, Florin Ramizi, Josh Everard, Dan Stewart (Ethan Chislett 80), Anthony Baker, Liam Talbot. Unused sub: Miguel Anderson.
Referee: Nigel Owen
Attendance – 88
If you couldn’t make it to the Spectrum on Saturday, here are the video highlights
