Guildford City (0) 1, AFC Croydon (2) 3
by Barry Underwood
In a match that had seemed destined to finish goalless, Guildford’s Enow Ojong found space on the edge of the box to fire home a late, late winner. One had to have some sympathy for the visitors who must have thought that they were going to travel home with a deserved point. It was a scrappy first half, but after the break City did up their performance and to their credit when many fans were content to “put the cue on the rack”, the team thought otherwise and attacked to the last giving themselves the opportunity to score a winner.
The first half was a scrappy affair with the Rams largely dominating the possession. An early long shot from Jamil Saleh cleared the crossbar, whilst Croydon shot over themselves after some slack defending. City came close on eight minutes when Cameron Gyeabour rattled the post. Scott Costello had pulled a low cross into the 18 yard box where Gyeabour hit it first time only to see the ball rebound out off of the woodwork. The loose ball fell to Zeid Hannachi who in his excitement blazed his effort well over the crossbar. Croydon saw a shot deflected just wide for a corner, and City’s Stuart Norman was forced into a flying save in order to keep the scores level. For Guildford Leon Dadey looked lively going forward and from his fine pass Zeid Hannachi’s first touch let him down with a good chance beckoning. A minute before the break Tom Hegarty’s cross gave Cameron Gyeabour a half-chance although the ball did come to him at an awkward height.
Guildford introduced the tall figure of Joe Condon off the bench for the second-half. Whether it was Condon’s influence or not City looked a better side after the break. On 55 minutes Zeid Hannachi shot narrowly wide from outside the box, and Scott Costello curled an effort across the face of the goal. Although certainly not one way traffic, City were winning corners and set pieces. Halfway through the period Billy Nutbeam saw a powerful free-kick comfortably saved, whilst minutes later Croydon shot wide at the other end. Enow Ojong’s arrival off the bench livened things up. On 82 minutes Ojong burst away under pressure from a defender before releasing a shot which the defender did well to deflect for a corner. As the game went into stoppage Campbell Scott and Joe Condon helped the ball to Ojong whose hooked shot over this shoulder was comfortably saved. Six minutes into stoppage time the same three players were involved again, and Enow Ojong drilled a low effort into the corner of the net from just outside the box. Cue huge celebrations as City gained their second win in five days.
Team: Stuart Norman, Stephan Langley, Billy Nutbeam, Ashley Hitchinson (Joe Condon 45), Oliver Creed, Tom Hegarty, Scott Costello (Campbell Scott 73), Jamil Saleh, Cameron Gyeabour (Cameron Edwin 77), Zeid Hannachi (Enow Ojong 64), Leon Dadey (Shane Cheeseman 90).
Referee: Liam Chick
Attendance – 70
