Match Report

Guild the Penalty Kings

The Guild progressed through to round three of the IRCC on Saturday after their second win on penalties in a row. A resiliant ten man Orpington team took the Guild through to the bitter end with the tie being decided with an Orpington miss after being ahead in the shootout.

The fantastic looking pitch and recently refurbished facilities at Green Court Sports was the venue for this tie. The game got underway and Orpington set their stall out to play a lone striker and crowd the midfield. The first half was very quiet with the majority of the game being played at a slow pace, with Farnborough controlling things and Orpington looking to counter on the break. Both sides appeared to lack that cutting edge in the attacking third, however Judge and Wray down the left hand side were finding some space with well timed runs. At the other end, the Guild defence was rarely troubled, but Campbell-Chambers upfront did look sharp and menacing with his pace and ability to run with the ball.

Five minutes before the break, Bakewell let his side down and was dismissed for Orpington for an incident that should not been seen anywhere, let alone a football pitch.

At the beginning of the second half we decided to try and push an extra man forward to take advantage of Orpington’s ten men, but the switch never really paid off and we looked uncomfortable with the formation. A quick break by the home side saw them go ahead after exchanges in midfield where Campbell-Chambers beat Mumford to the ball and finished into the net.

To be honest, it was not a bad thing that we went behind as it injected a bit more want into the match and ten minutes later we were level following one of the moves of the match. The ball was played around the back line from left to right to find Williams J on the right hand side who pinged an inch perfect cross field pass to Wray, whose bullet header left Harvey in the Orpington goal rooted to the spot. A fantastic goal.

Cooke replaced Williams L.

Full time came and went and things started to open up a bit in extra time with the Guild finding the post and Harvey in good form when a Perkins strike looked goal bound.

Cleaver replaced Wray.

The scores still remained level after extra time, so for the second game in a row, the Guild found themselves facing a penalty shoot out.

Farnborough won the toss and elected to kick first with Cooke dispatching his kick with ease. Orpington promptly equalised. Warren then pulled his effort wide with Orpington taking advantage and going 2-1 ahead. Davis then dispatched his penalty to make it 2-2 and Orpington duly obliged from the spot going 3-2 ahead. Perkins confidently made it 3-3. Before Mumford pulled off a fine save to keep the scores level. Williams J stepped up and struck the ball hard into the corner, before the Orpington skipper ballooned his effort over the bar to give the Guild victory.

Man of the match was Wray on the left hand side who had a very positive impact on the game, running with the ball at the full back and taking his goal with aplomb.

Overall I thought the better side won although we did lack that cutting edge in the attacking third today and left our finishing boots at home. Again, its another Premier side we have beaten while looking the better side which shows just how much quality we have in the squad and have another chance to put that record to the test when we meet Lewisham at home in the next round. We do need to find our goal scoring touch again and hopefully sooner rather than later as we are back to the nitty gritty of the league this week against Guru Nanak who beat Metrogas. We will have a full strong squad this week so once again I ask for your patience and remind players that it''s good squads that win silverware and everyone’s time will come.

Farnborough: 1.Mumford; 2.Warren; 3.Judge ©; 4.Davis; 5.Elliot; 6.Abbott; 7.Williams J; 8.Perkins; 9.Williams, L; 10. Hughes; 11.Wray; 12.Kendall; 13.Cleaver; 14.Stevens; 15.Cooke; 16.Hawkes

Subs: 15. Cooke for 9. Williams L; 13.Cleaver for 11. Wray

Subs not used: 12. Kendall; 15. Stevens and 16. Hawkes

Orpington: 1. Harvey; 2. Canty; 3. Docking; 4. Kirk; 5. Champ; 6. Bakewell; 7. French; 8. Tanner; 9. Frost; 10. Godward; 11. Campbell-Chambers

Subs: 12. Ellis; 13. Steer

Referee: Mr Val Anekwe

Assistants: Mr Damon Colvin & Mr Kelvin Clare