Guildford City 2 AFC Croydon 2 (5-4 Pens): Match Report

Guildford City (0) 2, AFC Croydon Athletic (0) 2

(Guildford City win 5-4 on penalties)

by Barry Underwood

It was Surrey Senior Cup action at the Spectrum and after dominating proceedings for some 80 minutes, Guildford City almost found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory! Both sides were missing key players, and unusually both sides fielded 17-year-old goalkeepers. The visitors had a bright opening but gradually Guildford started to dominate and create some chances. Bobby Webbe saw an early free kick just clear the crossbar, whilst Benga Ogunseye had half an opening that came to nothing after a heavy touch. Guildford should have gone ahead on 25 minutes when Cyril Ocansey cut in from the left but not backing himself to shoot the ball fell to Benga Ogunseye whose effort on the stretch was comfortably saved. Bobby Webbe again saw a free-kick narrowly miss the target, before on 39 minutes an excellent Isy Nzelo cross was met by Cyril Ocansey at the back post but his effort was blocked.  Croydon largely had been restricted to long range shooting.

Guildford’s dominance continued in the second period and on 52 minutes neither Josh Everard nor Luke Beale could convert a tantalising free kick. One minute later Guildford took the lead when Cyril Ocansey managed to convert Webbe’s pass at the second attempt. Devon Gordon was forced to save low down, but generally it was Guildford still making chances. Josh Everard had a goal disallowed for offside, but on 59 minutes City did go two goals ahead. Josh Ogunseye’s free-kick wasn’t held by the goalkeeper, and Benga Ogunseye was on hand to score from the rebound. 10 minutes later Josh Ogunseye and Youcef Azzouz carved out a great opening for Cyril Ocansey but his effort was well saved by Sam Faulkner in the visitor’s goal. On 77 minutes a looping Croydon header caused Devon Gordon to back-pedal to tip over the bar. This seemed to ignite the visitors going forward and with eight minutes remaining City’s defence several times failed to clear their lines and Alex Leslie picked his spot to make it 2-1. Some deft footwork from Benga Ogunseye gave Youcef Azzouz a shooting chance but his effort went wide. With nerves now starting to jangle and City’s defence sitting deeper, a Croydon header went across the face of the goal and required Devon Gordon’s diving intervention. A minute into stoppage time a fine shot from the edge of the box by Michael Jones found the corner of the net and it was game on again. Remarkably Guildford had a great chance to snatch it at the death. Josh Ogunseye burst through, but Faulkner made a fine stop at near point-blank range. And so, the match moved to a penalty shoot-out. Bobby Webbe, Josh Everard, Benga Ogunseye, Ryan Dacres-Smith and Josh Ogunseye all score from the spot to take City through to the quarter-finals.

Team: Devon Gordon, Isy Nzelo, Josh Ogunseye, Josh Everard, Luke Beale (Josh Burrowes 75), Sean Mason, Cyril Ocansey, Ryan Dacres-Smith, Benga Ogunseye, Bobby Webbe, Kieran Williams (Youcef Azzouz 66). Unused sub: Dan Hurlow.

Referee: Stephen Matthews