League Cup Disappointment for City

Published on: 25 Sep, 2024
Updated on: 26 Sep, 2024

Holyport (2) 4,

Guildford City (1) 2

By Barry Underwood

Guildford City departed the Combined Counties League Cup competition in a six-goal encounter at Summerleaze Park.

Both sides had made multiple changes to their starting line ups and Guildford had three debutants in their matchday squad.

City’s first problem was that their playing kit’s arrival had been delayed en-route so the the match did not kick off until 8pm. But within minutes of the start Guildford came close when Ruben Correia crashed a 20-yard effort against the post.

Holyport dominated much of the first period with two speedy wing men causing problems down either flank.

On 20 minutes Ruben Correia shot wide from long range after the home side’s keeper, Sam Hayes, mistimed his clearance to present Correia with the ball.

The home side’s pressure told on 25 minutes when a low cross from the right was side footed home by Jake Beck-Nardoni. And just two minutes later Holyport scored again when a City defender headed into his own net under pressure.

Although City looked disjointed during the first period they still had their moments in front of goal.

On 30 minutes Tywon Gray reduced the deficit when he headed home a corner kick. Shortly after Correia found space in the box but his effort cleared the crossbar.

As half-time approached Holyport twice came close when efforts narrowly missed the woodwork.

Guildford should have equalised with the last action of the half. Rueben Duncan had space in the box but he rejected his shooting chance to pass to Tobi Shoyoye in a better position. Shoyoye took a couple of touches before his low effort was well saved by the diving Hayes.

Manager Carl Taylor’s advised his charges during his half-time team talk that his sides first half performance wasn’t satisfactory.

Holyport were still enterprising and George Mead had to save well early on. The home side weren’t deterred and on 56 minutes they made it 3-1.

A poor clearance gave Logan Coles the chance to shoot home from the edge of the box. On the hour Guildford introduced Acheampong, Jon-Peter and Oragbade off the bench, which did give the visitors more of a threat up front.

On the hour Tobi Falodi’s corner sailed straight into the net and City were definitely back in the game.

Increasingly the match was becoming feisty and the referee didn’t sufficiently punish several harsh challenges on City players.

It came to a head with a challenge near the touchline that saw players of both sides and members of the Holyport bench react. Amazingly after a long consultation with his assistant the referee showed two yellow cards but only to two Guildford players.

For one of those booked it must have been a case of mistaken identity as he was some yards away from the incident. This injustice lifted the City players and they pushed forward for an equaliser.

Darnell Jon-Peter’s curling effort was saved, and Jake Brown headed over from a good position.

Holyport made the game safe on 86 minutes when a shot from the right went through George Mead’s hands to make the score 4-2. In the closing moments Manny Acheampong twice created chances which saw Kainen Oragbade’s shot blocked and Alex Stingelin head over the bar.

Team: George Mead, Tobi Falodi, Tywon Gray (Freddie Robins 65), Ben Drake, Jake Brown, Alex Stingelin, Ruben Correia (Darnell Jon-Peter 57), Reuben Duncan Tobi Shoyoye (Manny Acheampong 57), Louis Chin (Kainen Oragbade 57), Luca Le Page (Wesley Deoliveeira Quirins 89).

Referee: Andrew Tooley

Listen to Ian Newson Plested’s post-match interview with team manager Carl Taylor here: