Early indications suggest that Non-League Day was an all-round success, with attendances up and profiles raised throughout the pyramid. But at Godalming Town, the gate was swelled not by James Doe’s campaign but a noisy stag party. That, and myself and Mrs TFT.
Godalming’s Ryman League Division One South clash against Chipstead saw the high-flying Gs struggle to find their way past a top-notch goalkeeping performance and settle for a goalless draw on Saturday afternoon.
The game took a little while to get going at Wey Court but turned into an engaging and enjoyable encounter despite the lack of goals. Godalming had the better of the first half but were more adept at winning set pieces than finding shots on goal. Those set plays were taken superbly by Andy Ottley, leading to Gs’ best chances.
Mid-way through the first half, his corner found skipper Richard Taylor, whose header drew a phenomenal save from Martin Grant in the Chipstead goal. A minute later, Ottley’s free kick was headed wide by Richard Shittu, brother of ex-Bolton player Daniel. The two chances sparked the visitors into life, but their direct approach throughout their best spell in the first half was fruitless as Taylor and Daniel Sintim won everything in the air all afternoon.
Godalming finished the first half on top with Grant again keeping Chipstead level. In the 38th minute Ottley struck a free kick low but found a way through with his second attempt, which was initially fumbled by the goalkeeper who made a superb second save at Shittu’s feet. Two minutes later Grant was in action again, clawing away another head inevitably assisted by Ottley’s delivery.
After the break, Chipstead improved their game and began to create some chances of their own by keeping the ball on the grass. Dominic O’Shea got up well to beat Gs goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli and watched his header fly just wide. Jason Goodchild also came close with a spectacular effort, taking on a long-range dipping volley that just didn’t quite drop enough.
The introduction of substitute Kofi Quartey swung the game even further in Chipstead’s favour and he began to trouble Bettinelli on occasion, though the game was clearly destined to end 0-0 after his speculative low effort bobbled up past the goalkeeper’s dive and struck the post. Quartey created the two best chances of Chipstead’s afternoon, first finding O’Shea miles offside only for the striker to fire wide, then capitalising on Sintim’s only error of the game to test the Godalming ‘keeper.
In between, Gs left back Shaun Elliott looked to have nicked it for his team, taking advantage of a fortunate ricochet and a poor attempted tackle and shaping up to finish only for the excellent Grant to secure a deserved point for the visitors with a strong save at Elliott’s feet.
Neither side grasped the game well enough to deserve a win, so justice was eventually done. A pleasant afternoon’s football could have done with a goal but there were plenty of chances and the occasional chippy moment in an entertaining, competitive match.
Tags: Chipstead, Godalming Town, Match Reports, Non-League Day