Chalfont St Peter (0) 0, Guildford City (0) 1
by Barry Underwood
It was a dark, dank evening at Mill Meadow as Guildford City progressed to the last 16 of the CCL Challenge Cup. The game wasn’t a classic by any means, but manager Pete Ruggles expressed his satisfaction with the win and the clean sheet. Throughout Guildford looked the better of the sides but they struggled in the final third to score the goals their dominance deserved.
During the first half City had a succession of corner kicks and long throws into the box. From the first of these on five minutes Jacob Breckon headed just over the bar. A minute later Chalfont had their best chance of the game when the City defence switched off and Carl Okojie burst through but thankfully for the visitors he scooped his effort wide. The game entered a scrappy phase although Ricardo Andre and Harvey Valter both had efforts that went wide. Following a corner on 35 minutes Stephan Langley shot on the turn just wide of the near post. Just before the interval Jamie Pearce saw a shot blocked, whilst Chalfont did have the ball in the net but the “goal” was disallowed for offside.
Immediately after the break Scott Costello’s deflected effort saw Chalfont keeper Freddy Newbert scrambling across the goal to push the ball round the post for a corner. Minutes later City scored what proved to be the decisive goal. A good through ball from Stephan Langley saw Costello race through the defence and shoot low past Newbert. The home side themselves had half chances which were squandered and it was perhaps no surprise that this was to be their third consecutive game without a goal scored. Harvey Valter shot just over after jinking inside and on 73 minutes substitute Neizan Fernandez crossed through the danger area from the by-line without anybody getting a touch. Winger Ricardo Andre began to have some joy on the right side and from one cross Jacob Breckon missed his header from what was a golden chance. As the game reached the final stages Harvey Valter’s curling effort went narrowly wide, whilst Zeid Hannachi’s powerful effort was comfortably saved. Chalfont did shoot just wide but after five minutes of stoppage time the whistle blew to confirm Guildford’s place in the third round.
Team: Craig Smith, Stephan Langley, Leon Dadey (Oliver Creed 76), Olly Edwardes, James Glover, Jamie Pearce, Ricardo Andre, Jamel Salah (Neizan Fernandez 72), Jacob Breckon, Scott Costello (Zeid Hannachi 58), Harvey Valter. Unused subs: Billy Murphy, Stuart Norman.
Referee: Dylan Ing
