Godalming 1 (0) v (0) 0 Worthing United
It was back to league action after the midweek cup win and a full squad of 16 was named for the visit of Worthing United. The starters for this one were Ryan O’Sullivan between the sticks and Matt Cox at right back, both returning after the Chessington game, with Rob Parrott, Ollie McAleese and Jack Sherwood completing the defensive line up. In midfield were to be found Captain James Mariner and Conor Stillwell in the centre with ‘Nana’ Afful and Athan Smith-Joseph supporting Cameron Edwin and Jonny Miller in attack. The five substitutes named for this one were Jason Cotton, James Mansfield, Elroy Wealthyland, Asa Goodsell and Charlie Welch. In squad news Shiloh Ndiulor has moved on, best wishes to him and Mo assures us he has ‘Irons in the fire’ to supplement the squad (is that code for players with West Ham connections I wonder?).
Something of a sedate start to the game and to be frank the 1st half saw little action of note. Worthing, who always seem to be full of running when we play them, spent much of the half in possession playing the ball across the back and at times Godalming looked to be content to allow them to do so. Both Cam and Jonny won corners from deflected efforts with neither of the resultant kicks troubling the opposition keeper. I don’t believe there has been a recent match between these two teams where either side has scored more than two goals in any one game and at half time you would be a brave punter to put money on that statistic changing in this match. Half time score 0-0.
As you were for the Gees’ line up as they kicked off the 2nd half attacking the training pitch end. Does lightning strike twice is the question? Yes, it does, is the correct answer. In an eerie repeat of last Saturday, the 46th minute saw Jonny Miller break through direct from the re-start and hit the back of the net with a peach of a shot. A superb finish. Will someone bring along a stopwatch for the next game please? For me it was just milliseconds quicker that Athan’s goal at Montpelier, but it matters not: 1-0 Gees. Two further chances quickly presented themselves when Matt Cox was taken out on the right touchline, but Jonny’s free kick was cleared. Cam won the ball on the left, gave it on to Nana who set up Athan for a shot that went just over the bar. Mazza’s pass found Conor who in turn found Jonny Miller. A fine linking move between Jonny and Coxy, which we began to see bearing fruit last week, ended with Coxy’s inviting cross being cleared. Nana covered half the length of the pitch to shut down a defender and force him to concede a throw from which Athan’s ball to Nana was a touch too strong and resulted in a Worthing goal kick.
After 10 minutes on the front foot the Gees were then guilty of dropping off in my book and a long ball in under the bar had to be tidied up by Jack at the expense of Worthing’s first corner. I think we’re getting the hang of the Mo Sher clock; 60 minutes = First Substitution and Asa Goodsell duly came on to replace Nana. The Worthing keeper narrowly beat Athan to the pass on the end of a smart through ball from Jonny. Cam won a corner, taken by Athan, and Rob Parrott headed just over the bar. Asa, not the tallest of players, got up to place a fine header into the path of Cam which again the keeper got to first. 70 minutes down and a double substitution for the Gees, this time with Jason Cotton and Elroy Weathyland coming on for Jonny Miller and Conor. The subs both got into their stride early, Jason’s cross from the right by-line was knocked down to Asa by Elroy, Asa couldn’t get enough power into the shot. Athan was brought down on the left and from the cleared kick Jason tried a bicycle kick which didn’t quite come off.
With the clock running down and the score still 1-0 we are, from many painful past experiences, all too often used to the inevitable happening by conceding the equaliser or sometimes worst. I’m very pleased to say that didn’t happen here and I don’t want to jinx things but so far it hasn’t happened this season. Worthing put a couple of late crosses over which were dealt with some comfort. Meanwhile Godalming were still creating threats at the other end, all be it that they did not result in a second goal. James Mansfield came on for the last 5 minutes replacing Athan. The last seconds of the game saw Cam pick up a yellow card for a necessary challenge some 15 yards into our half to break up what was to be the final opposition attack, Worthing being caught offside from the free kick. The offside flag was followed by the final whistle announcing another 3 points in the bag for the Gees.
It’s still early days but I’m warming to what’s going on out on the pitch; we are seeing some decent interplay between the players, especially down the right flank. Whisper it softly the back line looks solid too, and the mixture of old and new guys out there is beginning to blend well. May I just point out that after 4 league games, in a league where each week high and silly scores are very often the norm, we have only seen 5 goals to date. That compares, according to FA Full Time, with 16, 16 and 20 goals after the first 4 games in each of the last three seasons, and with them a few results and Godalming performances that were shockers. Add to that the fact that we have only conceded the one goal to date, should I be worried Godalming Town are becoming Arsenal in disguise?
Leaving you with that frightening thought next up on Saturday it’s home to Erith and Belvedere from Step 5 in the FA Vase and then a mere 44 hours later we face Chessington again at Wey Court on Bank Holiday Monday.
COYG’s