We faced Guildford City at our newest home ground, The Armada Stadium. St George’s Field, on Saturday, 10th August. We entered the game in good form following our FA Cup victory the previous Tuesday evening, but we were sorely mistaken.

Three players were absent from that great FA Cup win: Craig Dundas, Callum Wilson, and Carl Oblitey.

Our opponents began the game much brighter than we did, and if not for a good save from Faebian Witter, we would have been one-nil down within 10 minutes. It wasn’t long before Guildford took the lead after a defensive mistake gave their forward the opportunity to score, which he did. Unfortunately, things only got worse for us when an innocuous cross caused all sorts of difficulties, leading our captain, Adam Green, to commit a handball on the goal line to prevent Guildford’s second goal. He was promptly sent off. The resulting penalty was converted, making it 2-0 to our opponents. We had a golden opportunity to pull one back on the stroke of half-time when Luke Miller was put through, but his shot hit the side netting. Half-time: 0-2.

At the start of the second half, we made two substitutions, with Stefan Hiwone and Carlos Polo-Infante coming on. However, shortly after the restart, Guildford scored their third goal with what was probably the best strike of the match—a dipping shot that rocketed into the back of our net. We conceded two more goals, one of which was an own goal, resulting in a 5-0 defeat to Guildford at full-time.

We cannot complain; they were the better team, though the scoreline is probably a bit harsh, given that we played nearly 70 minutes with ten men.

This result must be consigned to history as we prepare for another tough fixture this coming Tuesday, when we face Jersey Bulls with a 7:45 pm kick-off at St George’s Field. We need your support now more than ever, so why not come down and cheer on your local team?