Westfield (1) 2, Guildford City (0) 0
by Barry Underwood
Westfield’s run at the top end of the table continued at Woking Park on Saturday with a strong performance against Guildford City. The visitors certainly contributed to the match and with a better cutting edge up front they might well have taken something from the game. City opened brightly and twice came close to opening the scoring in the first ten minutes. Firstly Robbie Mundow, after a strong run forward, fed Matt Brown who had his back to goal. City’s new striker did well to twist in a tight space and his low shot on the turn brought a fine diving save from Ross. Minutes later it was Brown again who received the ball twelve yards from goal and his hooked shot over his shoulder rebounded back off of the crossbar where Miguel Anderson’s follow-up effort was blocked and cleared. Westfield were visibly a confident side and their movement and passing impressed. They especially looked dangerous down the left flank and there had been some early warnings down that side of the pitch. Therefore when on 15 minutes the goal came from that area it was no surprise. An inadvertent City deflection went back into the City half and from the low cross Hicham Abdellah was on hand to drill the ball home from close range. A Tarome Hemmings header from a corner clipped the top of the crossbar but aside from several long range efforts that went wide City defended well. City had half a chance with five minutes remaining of the half when Matt Brown found some space but his early effort from 30 yards was blocked for a corner.
The addition of Evander Lopes from the bench gave City impetus in the second period. Whilst Westfield enjoyed more possession City did enjoy some attacking moments. Many times the visitors established good positions in and around the edge of the home penalty area but they just couldn’t fashion a clear shooting chance. Westfield’s important second goal came on 75 minutes. The ball was played quickly out to the right where it was equally quickly moved low towards the near post where Max Blackmore was on hand to convert. A minute later City had their best chance of the half when Darryl Siaw fashioned space for himself at an angle eight yards from goal. Sadly Siaw blazed the opportunity high over the bar. In the final moments Dan Akinwande had an effort from a corner deflected for another corner, whilst in stoppage time Kallum Lunn maintained his recent good form with a fine save from close range.
Team: Kallum Lunn, Nemo Adams, Darryl Siaw, Lewis Leonetti, Greg Haydon (Allan Bryan 82), Dan Akinwande, David Koduah (Tom Bingham 55), Robbie Mundow, Matt Brown, Kiye Martin, Miguel Anderson (Evander Lopes 46). Unused sub: Tom Booth.
Referee: James Amadori
