Camberley Town (0) 1, Guildford City (1) 2
by Barry Underwood
A goal deep in the deepest of stoppage time by Harvey Valter – his first goal in senior football – gave Guildford City a deserved and much needed three points. Two new players made their debuts in the form of Dejarhn Grant signed from Colliers Wood and Jacob Breckon signed on dual registration from Westfield. Enow Ojong also returned to the side following injury. Defensively Stephan Langley was missing with a one match suspension, whilst Lloyd Connelly was also unavailable.
Guildford were very impressive in the first period and the concern was that more goals should have been scored during their ascendancy. In the very first minute Jamie Pearce turned well and fired a low shot into the side netting. For Camberley their danger man throughout was Gianluca Botti who played briefly for City at the tail end of last season. Running with the ball at his feet he was a constant menace to Guildford’s defenders. Early on Botti shot wide and after a long throw another effort cleared the crossbar. Jake Rumble and Enow Ojong concocted an opening for Zeid Hannachi but his fierce effort was blocked at full stretch. Guildford went ahead after 16 minutes. Jacob Breckon played Enow Ojong through and his early shot comfortably beat Harry Cawdron in the home goal. On the half hour Oliver Creed came to City’s rescue when the defence was unlocked and Creed came from nowhere to clear under pressure. A minute later determination saw Zeid Hannachi reach the by-line and from his cross Dejarhn Grant shot just over the bar. Ashley Hitchinson also saw a shot blocked after a thundering run. In the final moments of the half Jacob Breckon headed a Pearce long throw just wide, and Enow Ojong forced Cawdron into another save.
Immediately after the restart the home side appealed strongly for a penalty. Oliver Creed had thrown himself into a block which saved a goalscoring opportunity. Camberley felt the ball had hit his arm but the referee disagreed. City weren’t as fluent going forward after the break and in the latter stages they undoubtedly looked tired. A Jake Rumble cross hit the top of the crossbar but largely it was a question of containing the home side. Stuart Norman saved well low down on the hour, and assistant manager Neil Roissetter, in a rare first team appearance, did well to disrupt Camberley’s build up in the middle of the park. Camberley equalised on 76 minutes when a shot squirmed across goal and Stuart Norman was unable to prevent the ball being turned in. With the impetus of the goal this was likely to a tough conclusion to the game. Stuart Norman saved well with his feet from a free header and with three minutes left on the clock the City goalkeeper bravely saved amongst the flying bodies. Norman came off worse from the challenge and there was a lengthy delay whilst he was treated for a broken nose. City still looked to go forward. Billy Murphy in plenty of space was adjudged to be offside when he appeared to be yards onside. Then in the 12th minute of added time Jamie Pearce threw the ball down the line. Leon Dadey lifted the ball over a last defender and Harvey Valter raced towards goal and shot past the stranded Cawdron.
Team: Stuart Norman, Ashley Hitchinson (Michael Leech 90+7), Jake Rumble, Neil Roissetter (Billy Murphy 74), Oliver Creed, Jamie Pearce, Dejarhn Grant (Harvey Valter 67), Zeid Hannachi (Olly Edwardes 65), Jacob Breckon, Enow Ojong (Shane Cheeseman 84), Leon Dadey.
Referee: Reece Woodham
