Graham was off-duty so here is a quasi-match report that is probably wildly inaccurate. Apologies.
Team line-up. Andrew Upward, Josh Kempton, Josh Pound, Alex Rodrigues (captain), Lewis Lodge, Jack Howard, Lee Boon, Chad Goulter, Bobby Bennett, Bobby Webbe and Romario Harte.
On the bench were Piers Oldland, Tre Trowers, Dom Hardisty and Jon Palmer.
Bedfont have an excellent ground setup with a fine 3G pitch, creating a perfect spot for watching football if you happen to be stone deaf. Situated at the end of one of Heathrow’s main runways, the cries of the players and fans were drowned out by an endless aural assault from an endless stream of thundering Pratt and Whitneys. It seemed a shame that so many people were passing so close overhead, knuckles drawn white on the armrests, oblivious to the real drama unfolding just a short yellow-ice drop beneath them.
Both sides opened brightly and there were good chances at either end; the G’s having a header cleared off the line.
Bedfont are an excellent side, who seemed to play with a nice balance of skill and aggression despite them giving an initially threatening impression dressed in their Dennis The Menace hooped jumpers. Obviously the club is not fond of conflict as the dugouts are placed fifty yards apart, which prevents any managerial spats occurring without the use of a megaphone or a bicycle.
After 15 minutes Bedfont went ahead with a strange goal that seemed to involve an accidentally brilliant dummy, a delicate chip and me not watching properly.
However Godalming came back strongly with both Bobby Bennett and the incredibly hard-working Romario both going close.
Then on 35 minutes, all the industry paid off and G’s were correctly awarded a penalty, which Bobby Bennett tucked away neatly to the keeper’s right.
Six minutes later, Jack Howard went down in a heap and had to be replaced by Piers. It looked pretty painful, but let’s hope he’ll be back very soon.
Just when it seemed that the G’s would be holding onto a deserved draw at halftime, after 41 minutes, a very neat, well-taken goal meant that Bedfont went into the break one up.
In the second half, our heads stayed high and we performed as well as I’ve seen us this season. Romario was not going to be denied and after fighting his way into the box, lobbed the keeper, only to see the ball bounce back off the bar. He then shrugged off the defenders, collected the rebound, remained calm, beat another man and slammed it home. 2-2.
But Bedfont are at the top of the table for a reason and threw themselves at our defence, that had looked encouragingly solid, but persistence eventually paid off and after hitting the woodwork and going close again (as did we), they finally got the winner in the 79th minute. Just about deserved ..just about.
It was an excellent game, played in the right spirit and G’s should be cheered by the performance, especially as we came within inches of taking home a point to accompany the crippling earache.
The extremely well-spoken referee got a standard amount of abuse for missing a few things, but overall had a good game eventually giving Romario a yellow card for doing something or other that I didn’t see.
Tre came on for Chad near the end.
I’ve no idea if they served Bovril but the directors were given biscuits at half time.
