Well well! It would never have been said that Guildford have the tightest defence in the division but I don’t think anybody saw a five goal defeat in the offing. In truth it could have been more as City crashed to their heaviest defeat since 2008. Once again travel delays may have had an effect, or perhaps City are struggling with long distance travel with four goals also recently conceded at Shortwood. Additionally perhaps it was also Rugby Town on fire, playing some cracking football and fully entertaining the majority of a larger than average crowd. In truth I think it was something of all of these things, but the game has passed and Kevin Rayner and the boys will be looking ahead to rectify matters during the coming week.
The reverberation of the referees whistle starting the match had barely faded when City found themselves a goal behind, after a low cross from the left eluded numerous City defenders for Sam Youngs to calmly pick his spot inside the far post. Joel Hughes hen saw a powerful long range effort clear the bar, before back at the other end Antony Hall, celebrating his 150th appearance for the club, saved smartly from Lake-Gaskin. Then on 7 minutes City were two behind when chances to clear the ball were neglected and David Kolodynski smashed the ball home. Under continuing pressure City went three down after just 14 minutes when Sam Youngs netted with a beautiful curling shot from fully 25 yards. With the pre-match autumn sunshine giving way to torrential hailstones and then rain, the large number of travelling Sweeney fans knew that a City goal could, similar to the weather, change the course of events. A smart move between Jaydon Gibbs and Joel Hughes set up Austin Gacheru but under pressure his firmly hit shot went wide. City were attempting to get back into the game but long balls aimed at the wide men were continually being intercepted, and with all 50:50s seemingly falling Rugby’s way it was tough going for the visitors. On 33 minutes it became 4-0; a comic-cuts defensive error between Thoroughgood and Hall led to Sam Youngs having the easiest of jobs to slide the ball into an empty net. City fans were given a glimmer of hope before the half-time interval when a quickly taken Gibbs free-kick was well taken down by Austin Gacheru who smartly turned in the box to net with a low drive from an acute angle.
To have a glimmer of hope City had to score next but for long periods they were unable to make significant progress in an attacking sense. Ben Rayner did see a free-kick just clear the Rugby crossbar but this was a rare foray. On 63 minutes the home side put the game beyond any doubt, when again City gave the ball away cheaply and Kolodynski calmly lifted the ball over the advancing Hall to net his second of the game. The final ten minutes saw long range efforts from Ben Rayner and Austin Gacheru narrowly miss the target, but still the day’s action wasn’t complete. Firstly City skipper Simon Cooper was shown a second yellow for an ill judged challenge, and then to round matters off David Kolodynski completed his hat-trick by tapping in, after Antony Hall failed to hold a free-kick from outside the box. Kolodynski missed a good chance to score his fourth before thankfully for everybody connected with City referee Ian Rathbone blew his whistle to draw events to a close.
Guildford City
Antony Hall, Elvis Defreitas, Ben Rayner, Simon Cooper, Jamie Thoroughgood (Moses Spencer 56), Tony Chaplin (Dammy Bada 61), Dan Moody, Tommy Tydeman (Junior Kaffo 69), Austin Gacheru, Joel Hughes, Jaydon Gibbs.
Unused substitutes: Will Heavey, Luke Bradnick.
Cautioned: Ben Rayner, Tommy Tydeman, Jaydon Gibbs, Simon COoper
Sent off: Simon Cooper (Second caution)
Referee: Ian Rathbone
