Match Report

On a glorious summer day in the village, the Guild kicked off their 2009/10 season with an emphatic and comprehensive IRCC win over KCL Premier Division opponents Rusthall.

A sharp start from the Guild saw them ahead as early as the eighth minute when Hawkins in the Rusthall goal saw his clearance rebound off his own defender and fall kindly to Williams L who took a touch and rolled the ball into the empty net. Fortunate? Yes, however, sometimes you earn your own luck and the effort put in by Cooke and Williams to charge down the loose ball, personified that very theory.

The goal gave the Guild a lift and we looked both comfortable and confident. A perfectly weighted ball by Stevens saw Cooke through one on one but the effort was thwarted by the Rustics number 1. The next twenty minutes saw the best spell for Rusthall without dominating. That spell saw the Rustics come the closest to an equaliser when Mumford in the Guild goal made a stunning point blank save to deny a certain leveller. From the save we used our pace and accurate passing to break quickly and new signing Hughes from Orpington FC must have thought he had bagged on his competitive debut when he struck a venomous drive that was acrobatically tipped over by Hawkins.

Further opportunities came and went and Williams J was running the Rustics ragged with his pace and versatile wing play.

At the half, Farnborough were the far happier side, a goal to the good and playing some really decent passing football.

The start of the second half saw a change in formation for Rusthall, going back to a more orthodox 4-4-2.

The second half started and the Guild took full control of the fixture and went further ahead when Perkins finished convincingly from 15 yards into the bottom corner of the net. The goal saw the Rustics' heads drop and the Guild create a number of further opportunities.

Rusthall made further substitutions to try and revive the game, but failed to make any impact.

Wray replaced Stevens on the left, Parmenter replaced Cooke upfront and Kendall replaced Hughes on the right.

Looking good, playing well and two goals to the good, the Rustics clawed a goal back with ten minutes to go when a good run across our back line was not tracked and Murray finished past the outstretched Mumford.

With that setback in mind and ten minutes to go, we could have crumbled which would have been a travesty. Instead we took the goal as a kick up the ‘Khyber Pass’ and switched back on.

A rasping volley by Williams L flew narrowly wide before the Williams brothers combined perfectly to put the game beyond doubt; Williams Jnr outstripped a defender down the right and delivered a beautiful ball across the box which senior attacked and his effort looped into the far corner of the net. 3-1 and the two goal cushion was restored.

With five minutes to go and on a hat-trick Williams spanked another volley just wide of the post and Parmenter went close when his effort was narrowly wide.

The game ended with the Guild worthy winners and the Rusthall players were very sporting and complimentary in defeat. Good luck to them for the rest of the season.

In all honesty, we were outstanding today across the park. I have had some difficult decisions to make in terms of both squad and team selection and everyone played well. Talking and general communication were excellent as well as our confidence and attitude towards the game.

For Farnborough it was a little bit of history as we have never beaten a Premier side before. We have another opportunity to improve on that record as we are drawn away in the next round to Orpington FC in November.

As stated earlier there were a lot of decent performances. Stevens on the left was superb and played a game way beyond his years as he only celebrated his seventeenth birthday a few weeks earlier. On the opposite age of the age spectrum is the 'twice the age of Ricky' Williams L who bagged twice and could have furthered that tally. However, Warren got the nod from both manager and players for his best performance in a Guild shirt to date. He kept it simple and his timing of tackles and interceptions was spot on. Well done to Lee.

Next up for the Guild it’s back to the business of the league and a trip to the Oaks to play Tudor Sports. We must be on our game and carry this week’s brilliant attitude into the game and make our title aspirations known.

Man of the Match: Lee Warren

Farnborough: 1. Mumford; 2. Warren; 3. Davis; 4. Judge; 5. Hughes; 6. Abbott; 7. Williams J; 8. Perkins; 9. Williams L; 10 Cooke, 11. Stevens

Subs: 16. Wray for 11. Stevens (60 mins); 12. Parmenter for 10. Cooke (65 mins) & 15. Kendall for 5. Hughes (70 mins)

Subs not used: 13. Elliot; 14. Travers & 17. Hawkes

Referee: Mr Columbus Pritchard

Assistants: Mr Adam Cordery & Mr Tony Woods