Godalming Town 1 (0) v (0) 0 Seaford Town

Godalming deservedly inflicted the first defeat of the season on Seaford, the current league leaders, with another terrific team performance all round.

After a somewhat stuttering start to the season, the Gs now have registered 3 wins in a row including one against Step 5 opposition in the League cup.

A good crowd at Wey Court on this mainly sunny afternoon saw an entertaining encounter played in a competitive spirit, between two good sides.

For the Gs, Ryan O’Sullivan was in between the sticks, with Matt Cox returning to the right back position, in a back four with Rob Parrott also dropping back into the centre back role following , alongside Ollie Mc Aleese and Jack Sherwood in the left back position. James Mariner returned to duty in front of the back four, with Conor Stillwell and Cameron Edwin in the middle. Alexander Afful wide on the right  with Elroy Wealthyland on the left and Deji Alabi continuing in the number nine shirt.

 Jonny Miller was on the bench alongside Bradley Fangas, James Mansfield, Charlie Welch and a new name in Darren Xavier.

 From the off it was clear that Matt Cox had been asked to get forward, when he could and he made a couple of early runs down the right in front of the stand, delivering some good crosses in towards  the opposition 6-yard box, but the Gs did not see the ball bounce kindly for them and the Seaford defence managed to clear on both occasions.

Then Seaford broke quickly from defence and strung together some good passes of their own as they returned the favour, advancing into the Gs half. Their final pass was into space behind the Gs defence where a visiting forward made a diagonal run and hit a first time shot that just cleared the Gs bar. Coxy attacked again and his low cross saw a defender clear from very close to the goal line.

The Gs were at it again minutes later when the Gs hit a shot from the left across the goal and the Seaford keeper had to scramble it away for a corner.

Elroy was looking dangerous as he used his pace to get onto the end of a couple of diagonal crosses behind the Seaford defence and, to me, was wrongly flagged as offside.

Seaford mounted an attack on their left and Ryan was called upon to stick a leg out to stop a low drive from quite close range.

The visitors were awarded a couple of free kicks midway between the halfway line and the Gs penalty area. But these were dealt with quite comfortably by the home defence despite the visitors having some sizeable defenders in attendance.

Next, as half time beckoned, the Gs broke out of defence with a long ball from Rob Parrott (I think) to around the centre circle where Deji was outnumbered by defenders, but he managed to turn and leave them in his wake. As he advanced into the penalty area the Seaford keeper came out to close Deji down. But Deji played the ball around him well, but maybe a little wider than he wanted, as his shot, taken at pace, to the open goal from something of an angle, hit the upright and went out for a goal kick. A great opportunity for Deji to open his account for the Gs and it would have been no more than he deserves.

The Gs fans all must have felt that maybe that was a crucial chance missed. And they can come back to bite you in the bum, if you do not take them.

So, the score remained at 0 – 0 at half time. Clearly the home fans enjoyed what they had seen in the first half as they applauded the team off the pitch at the break. The Gs edging it for me in all areas and the visitors probably felt fortunate that they were not at least a goal down. Great performances all round from the lads, with lots of movement and many players putting in a good shift in both defence and attack.

No changes to the squad for the second half and the Gs took the game to their guests from the restart whistle.

Elroy chased down a Jack Sherwood ball into the penalty area, but a defender just managed to clear the ball for a corner to the Gs. Elroy took it and it was cleared out to where Conor managed to head it back towards goal, but was unable to beat the Seaford keeper. 

Next attack Deji took the ball to the goal line on the left again where he managed to get past his defender and pull the ball across the area, but there was no one on hand for the Gs to convert.

 Some more good pressure from the home side, but they could not find the final pass/shot to open the scoring.

Mazza was the taken out as he cleared the ball and the referee produced the first yellow card of the game saying to the offender “ You had absolutely no intention of playing the ball” as he waived away his protests.

Shortly after Alexander Afful was subbed off to let Jonny Miller stretch his legs on the right and within a few minutes of being on the field of play he found himself with a half chance just outside the 6 yard box, but could not keep his shot down and saw it just go over the bar.

There was a stoppage to play following a collision between Ollie and a Seaford player, requiring both to need attention on the pitch. Fortunately both were restored by the respective physios and able to continue.

The Gs mounted another great attack, with Deji charging down the right before he delivered the ball in towards Cam on the edge of the 6 yard box, but he was swamped by defenders who bundled the ball clear. From that clearance Seaford mounted another breakaway and Ryan needed to dive to knock round a shot from a forward who had been driven wide by the Gs defenders.

Matt Cox still had some energy and made another fine run down the wing interchanging passes with Jonny Miller. Once in the area he hit a hard low ball across the goal and the Seaford keeper did well to get down quickly and smother it.

As the clock was running down, it seemed to me that the visitors started to come a little more into the game, having been under the cosh for several spells in the second half. Ollie Mc Aleese was fouled in his own area. The resulting free kick relieved one particular sortie into the home sides territory.

Another yellow card was issued to the visitors for a poor tackle on Coxy as he broke away again.

Then Elroy was subbed off to let James Mansfield join the fray.

Again, the Gs got going down their right and Cam produced a fierce shot from the edge of the area, which cannoned off a defender and away briefly, before the ball came across from the right to James Mansfield beyond the far post. He produced a great shot that the Seaford keeper diving at full stretch got a hand to, but it was not enough to stop the ball curling beyond him into the top of the net. Quite a stunner. The team went mad and deservedly so, piling in to congratulate James.

That meant there was no point Seaford defending and so they threw everything at the home defence for the last few minutes. But we held out as we knew they would . Rob, Ollie, Matt and Jack were all superb and in fact so was the whole squad. Conor and Cam were everywhere fighting for everything while Mazza was a tower of strength in the middle. The forwards all did their bit pressing defenders when we were not in possession and linking well when we were.

The whistle went and the Gs fans were delighted to congratulate their team, as is customary at the Bill Kyte Stadium. A brilliant performance, some great football and another win. Three in a row now. But there is more work to do and we look forward to a trip to Storrington next week hoping to make it four in a row with a few goals to boost the goal difference.

COYG’s