Post by greygraham on Mar 5, 2020 19:53:33 GMT
Farnham Town 1 – 0 Godalming Town
Having met Farnham 3 times already this season we knew what to expect. There had been plenty of goals in the previous encounters. They have had the better of the last couple of meetings so, Phil Ruggles and his team would need to find a magic wand from somewhere to give the Gs supporters something to be pleased about.
After a slightly disappointing result on Saturday at K & E and time definitely running out if we are going to get off the bottom of the table by the end of the season, most of us I am sure were prepared to face more disappointment. After all Farnham are looking pretty strong for promotion being second only to Jersey, who are far too good for this League.
(No mention of juxtapositions - that would be silly).
So, when the teams were announced we were surprised to see that neither Jordan Cavender or Andrew Tarrant were on the squad sheet. As the Gs lined up we could see that in front of Adrian Giles was a back four of Reegan Scotcher, Sam Taylor, Miles Davidson-Townsend and Raisan Francis. Don Hardisty had been drafted into the midfield alongside Charlie Chennel and Rory Sellick. Roberto De Santos and a new name of Tommy Marshall as the wide players with Jamal Ramsey in the number 9 shirt. On the bench Dexter Skipp, who impressed and scored on his debut last week, (but arrived at the ground behind us, so did well to get to the bench before kick-off), George Smith and Ollie Ballam.
Of course, there was the strange sight of Darren Wheeler lined up in the Farnham kit at the kick off. Also, in the home line-up was Joe Sowden who featured for the Gs for a while ago (along with his brother Nick) and Connor Gales who has been in the Gs set up a couple of times. No Ashley Lloyd in their line up as he was suspended, but he came and had a chat. Good to see him.
Well as you may have seen in a few Facebook comments the Gs were absolutely red hot, in the first half particularly and any neutral observer would, I am sure, have thought the Gs were the side at the top of the table.
We were not allowing the home side any time on the ball at all and moved the ball quickly when we were in possession, putting them under pressure from the start. Dom Hardisty and Charlie both seemed to be enjoying themselves in their new more forward roles and Tommy Marshall also impressed.
We launched numerous attacks. Jamal almost nicked the ball off the Farnham keeper, but the ball did run well for him. Shortly after that from a corner Miles headed a little wide of the far post. Jamal also got in a shot that went just wide.
Unfortunately, Raison suffered an ankle injury about 25 minutes in and had to be replaced. Dexter Skipp coming on in the wide position and Tommy Marshall moving back to the left back position. The Gs still kept pressing and had by far the better of the possession and territory. We could hardly believe what we were seeing.
We had a great shout for a penalty when Jamal went for an overhead kick that was handled by Connor Gales above his head. All on the video footage, but when you are at the bottom these crucial decisions don’t seem to go for you. No good harping on about it. It is what it is.
Roberto was doing a great job again and got in a good shot that required an equally good save from the home keeper.
Roberto swapped wings and delivered a great ball in to the far post where Charlie Chennel was able to get his head on it, but his attempt went just wide.
It was nearing the end of the first half before Adrian had to make a serious save the Gs were so dominant. The question in our minds was - can they keep up the pressure and pace of the game?
Early in the second half Adrian was called upon to make his second proper save of the game, such was the Gs dominance up until that time. Farnham were aware that they needed to improve and they did introduce subs.
The Gs had a scare when Adrian was caught outside his area and a Farnham forward beat him to the ball before stroking it towards the goal. Fortunately, Miles has more pace than the average centre back and was able to get back and clear.
But the Gs were still pressing at the other end of the pitch. Dom Hardisty was doing a great job in the midfield cutting out long passes along with Charlie and Rory and was moving the ball quickly to Jamal and Roberto. Indeed, Jamal was still causing problems for the home defenders and hit a shot that sounded like it hit the post, but I think must have come back from the net support.
Unfortunately, Sam Taylor then got sent to the sin bin, having had a good game up until then. In the first half the referee made it clear to the home side that he had had enough of their back chat and threatened to send the next one of their players off if there was any more of it. The Gs got no such warning, just a straight sin binning. But it is what it is.
George Smith came on for Reegan Scotcher, who had also had a good game, but was limping with an ankle injury. So, both backs off now
.
In the end the home side managed to score when the Gs gave up the ball in the middle with a poor pass out of defence.
Sam was sent off the pitch for a second sin binning.
The Gs kept on pressing the Farnham defence, but could not level the score. So, we went away with a strange feeling of disappointment that we did not at least come away with a deserved point, but also feeling how well the guys had played on the night. The team that Phil and his team have been putting together gets better game by game. Thanks for all your hard work Phil.
They ran the home side as close as they could and if we can reproduce that sort of performance for the remainder of the season, anything should be possible.
Having met Farnham 3 times already this season we knew what to expect. There had been plenty of goals in the previous encounters. They have had the better of the last couple of meetings so, Phil Ruggles and his team would need to find a magic wand from somewhere to give the Gs supporters something to be pleased about.
After a slightly disappointing result on Saturday at K & E and time definitely running out if we are going to get off the bottom of the table by the end of the season, most of us I am sure were prepared to face more disappointment. After all Farnham are looking pretty strong for promotion being second only to Jersey, who are far too good for this League.
(No mention of juxtapositions - that would be silly).
So, when the teams were announced we were surprised to see that neither Jordan Cavender or Andrew Tarrant were on the squad sheet. As the Gs lined up we could see that in front of Adrian Giles was a back four of Reegan Scotcher, Sam Taylor, Miles Davidson-Townsend and Raisan Francis. Don Hardisty had been drafted into the midfield alongside Charlie Chennel and Rory Sellick. Roberto De Santos and a new name of Tommy Marshall as the wide players with Jamal Ramsey in the number 9 shirt. On the bench Dexter Skipp, who impressed and scored on his debut last week, (but arrived at the ground behind us, so did well to get to the bench before kick-off), George Smith and Ollie Ballam.
Of course, there was the strange sight of Darren Wheeler lined up in the Farnham kit at the kick off. Also, in the home line-up was Joe Sowden who featured for the Gs for a while ago (along with his brother Nick) and Connor Gales who has been in the Gs set up a couple of times. No Ashley Lloyd in their line up as he was suspended, but he came and had a chat. Good to see him.
Well as you may have seen in a few Facebook comments the Gs were absolutely red hot, in the first half particularly and any neutral observer would, I am sure, have thought the Gs were the side at the top of the table.
We were not allowing the home side any time on the ball at all and moved the ball quickly when we were in possession, putting them under pressure from the start. Dom Hardisty and Charlie both seemed to be enjoying themselves in their new more forward roles and Tommy Marshall also impressed.
We launched numerous attacks. Jamal almost nicked the ball off the Farnham keeper, but the ball did run well for him. Shortly after that from a corner Miles headed a little wide of the far post. Jamal also got in a shot that went just wide.
Unfortunately, Raison suffered an ankle injury about 25 minutes in and had to be replaced. Dexter Skipp coming on in the wide position and Tommy Marshall moving back to the left back position. The Gs still kept pressing and had by far the better of the possession and territory. We could hardly believe what we were seeing.
We had a great shout for a penalty when Jamal went for an overhead kick that was handled by Connor Gales above his head. All on the video footage, but when you are at the bottom these crucial decisions don’t seem to go for you. No good harping on about it. It is what it is.
Roberto was doing a great job again and got in a good shot that required an equally good save from the home keeper.
Roberto swapped wings and delivered a great ball in to the far post where Charlie Chennel was able to get his head on it, but his attempt went just wide.
It was nearing the end of the first half before Adrian had to make a serious save the Gs were so dominant. The question in our minds was - can they keep up the pressure and pace of the game?
Early in the second half Adrian was called upon to make his second proper save of the game, such was the Gs dominance up until that time. Farnham were aware that they needed to improve and they did introduce subs.
The Gs had a scare when Adrian was caught outside his area and a Farnham forward beat him to the ball before stroking it towards the goal. Fortunately, Miles has more pace than the average centre back and was able to get back and clear.
But the Gs were still pressing at the other end of the pitch. Dom Hardisty was doing a great job in the midfield cutting out long passes along with Charlie and Rory and was moving the ball quickly to Jamal and Roberto. Indeed, Jamal was still causing problems for the home defenders and hit a shot that sounded like it hit the post, but I think must have come back from the net support.
Unfortunately, Sam Taylor then got sent to the sin bin, having had a good game up until then. In the first half the referee made it clear to the home side that he had had enough of their back chat and threatened to send the next one of their players off if there was any more of it. The Gs got no such warning, just a straight sin binning. But it is what it is.
George Smith came on for Reegan Scotcher, who had also had a good game, but was limping with an ankle injury. So, both backs off now
.
In the end the home side managed to score when the Gs gave up the ball in the middle with a poor pass out of defence.
Sam was sent off the pitch for a second sin binning.
The Gs kept on pressing the Farnham defence, but could not level the score. So, we went away with a strange feeling of disappointment that we did not at least come away with a deserved point, but also feeling how well the guys had played on the night. The team that Phil and his team have been putting together gets better game by game. Thanks for all your hard work Phil.
They ran the home side as close as they could and if we can reproduce that sort of performance for the remainder of the season, anything should be possible.