Godalming Town 1 (0) v (0) 0 Reigate Priory – League

In-form Godalming Town maintained their 100% record in the league with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Reigate Priory on Tuesday night.

The Gs have made a brilliant start to the 2025-26 campaign and are unbeaten after nine games in all competitions, with a fourth clean sheet in a row the bedrock to a win that saw them climb four points clear at the top of the Southern Combination Division One table.

Mo Sher made two changes to the side that swept aside AFC Uckfield Town on Saturday. Elroy Wealthyland returned to the first eleven and, notably, there was a start for newly signed striker Nasim Regragui, with Will May having picked up a short-term injury.

Back on 12 August, Godalming faced probably their hardest game of the season so far when Reigate visited in the Peter Bentley Challenge Cup 1st Round, with the Gs progressing on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Once again tonight, Priory proved a handful, demonstrating at times cohesive patterns in the final third and a well-organised backline. Indeed, with merely six minutes on the clock they should have taken the lead, when Jack Crofts crossed to Reigate’s leading goal scorer Lee Peacock who smashed a close-range shot against the post.

Reigate continued to impose themselves, with former G Steve Betancourt’s half-volley from the edge of the box forcing a smart stop from Fabio Suarez on 10 minutes, before Betancourt’s knock-down from a corner saw Crofts lift the ball over the bar from within the six-yard box on the quarter-hour mark.

Godalming gradually worked their way into the game and Regragui and Cam Edwin both missed one-on-ones. Shortly after, pot-shots from Reigate’s Will Street and then Jonny Miller and Mark Soares continued what was proving an entertaining, end-to-end first half. Miller headed a Soares corner over the bar in the 41st minute and the sides went in level at the interval.

As they have on several occasions this season, the Gs started the second half strongly. In the 52nd minute, Edwin burst through down the right and flashed a shot wide, before Godalming’s best chance of the game came five minutes after. Excellent work by Jack Sherwood saw the full-back force a turnover on the halfway line and feed Regragui, whose smart through-ball put Soares in with only ‘keeper Jordan Markey to beat. Given the form he’s in, and the technical ability he’s demonstrated since arriving halfway through last season, most people in the ground were surprised when the forward raced through only to blaze the ball over the bar.

Chances began to diminish as the second half wore on, but the Gs made the crucial breakthrough with 15 minutes left on the clock. An exceptional ball from Regragui played in Edwin down the right-hand edge of the penalty area, and the Gs skipper did well to cross low across the six-yard box where Malik Shittu – on as a substitute only 10 minutes earlier – knocked the ball home from close-range. After no goals in 21 games last season, unlike scorer Shittu already has two for the Gs this campaign.

Following the goal the Gs sat in a bit, inviting Reigate pressure. With six minutes remaining Sher brought on Ali Haddadji for Regragui, in an effort to lock things up. The new striker had impressed in spells during his debut – only two seasons he scored five goals in 12 games for then-Step 3 Kingstonian – and he could prove a nifty addition should he stick around …

The game ended as it had begun, with the visitors forcing the issue. Their best chance came in the 89th minute, when a Peacock cross was met by Street, with Rob Parrott blocking the goalbound effort. The final act of an entertaining match was Suarez confidently leaping to collect a testing corner deep into stoppage time, rounding off perhaps the best match the new Gs stopper has had following a mixed start to his time at Wey Court.

After shipping a few goals in the opening games of the campaign, Godalming have now not conceded in four matches and sit pretty at the top of the table. That said, a tougher month ahead beckons, starting with a visit on Saturday from East Preston – the only side to win at Wey Court in the league last season – and their perennial Step 6 bagsman Zion Mcleod.

COYGs