The Sweeney edge past plucky debutants

Guildford City 3 Tooting Bec 2, FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round, Saturday 10^th August 2019

One thing I realised during my inaugural season of groundhopping last year, was that the magic of the FA Cup is still very much alive and kicking for non-league clubs.

Some of my favourite matches in the early stages of the last campaign came in the tournament’s qualifying rounds. Not only do semi-pro players clearly relish the opportunity to participate in a competition which, over the years, has featured many of the world’s best players, but the chance for the clubs to earn some much-needed extra pennies means that all teams take these rounds extremely seriously. There are no managers fielding reserve squads or youth-team players getting minutes under their belts at this level. The FA Cup is serious stuff.

While the prize money on offer in the early stages may be a drop in the ocean for many professional teams (although I’m sure neither Bury or Bolton would turn their noses up at it at present), the £2,250 on offer to teams who progress just past the Extra Preliminary Round is a welcome boost to any non-league club’s coffers (even the losers get a hand £750).

From the moment the draw for this year’s Extra Preliminary Round was made, I began to eagerly whittle down where I would be starting my FA Cup journey this season. Having decided to go to a game based in Surrey, I picked four potential matches and left it to a Twitter poll to decide on my destination.

Now, this is where I should really do some research (regular readers will know that this isn’t a strength of mine). Of the four games I picked, I was quickly informed by various members of the Twittersphere that one was actually due to be played on the Friday night, while one was being played at a neutral venue.

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Indeed, it was the game being played at a neutral ground – Guildford City vs Tooting Bec – that ultimately came out on top, accruing 36 per cent of the vote.
If I’m being honest, this was probably my desired outcome. With it being The Bec’s first ever game in the competition following their rapid rise up the non-league pyramid (the club only formed in 2004), it was arguably the most intriguing of the four selected ties.

Therefore, instead of heading to Guildford’s The Spectrum, I instead found myself travelling to nearby Woking to Woking Park, home of Bostik South Central side Westfield Town. Having arrived at the car park outside the ground at 14:30, it then took me around ten minutes to find a space. Woking, whose Kingsfield Ground is located right across the road, were also at home, while I was later informed a Pride event was also being held in the town. Suddenly the abundance of hot-pants and glitter made sense! For a moment, I just thought Woking supporters were just far more liberated than your average football fan.

 I eventually entered the stadium 15 minutes before kick-off. Admission was £7 while a professionally-produced and informative programme was a further £2. The main stand located by the main entrance dominates Woking Park, with covered seating available both outside the impressive clubhouse (one-storey up) and underneath it. By the time I arrived, this stand had been commandeered by a sizable number of friendly Tooting Bec fans who were clearly keen to cherish their team’s historic big day.

In addition to the main stand, there is another smaller covered seated stand behind one of the goals.

With a blustery wind swirling around the ground, making it feel more like being at a first round FA Cup tie being played in late autumn rather than an Extra Preliminary match being played in (supposedly) the height of summer, I nevertheless decided to eschew the cover in favour of braving the elements and standing on the far side of the pitch by the dug-outs. (That said, when the rain briefly started lashing down in the opening minutes of the second-half, I did seek temporary shelter before resuming my position once the downpour had passed and the sun had come out. British weather, huh?).

Of the match itself, I can only thank those of you who took the time to vote for Guildford City vs Tooting Bec in my Twitter Poll for your good judgement. A very enjoyable and entertaining 90 minutes was to unfold.

Unsurprisingly, it was the higher-ranked and more experienced hosts (Guildford City have reached the Second Round Proper of the competition on six previous occasions; albeit most recently in 1971/72) who settled quicker. A couple of good early chances were spurned by The Sweeney (not sure what the nickname’s all about, but would love someone to tell me), while Kieran Campbell was unlucky to see his long-range effort hit the bar. Right winger Eli Ogunseye really caught the eye for the home-side, with his skill and direct running a constant thorn in the visitor’s side.

Aside from a couple of dangerous balls into the area, and a few corners, The Bec had barely threatened in the opening half when, out of nowhere, they took the lead ten minutes before half-time. Guildford stopper Stuart Norman could only parry a shot from Myles Blenkinsop and Dariush Heravi followed up to send the visiting players and supporters into rapturous celebrations.

The goal made the hosts wobble momentarily and, for the next couple of minutes, The Bec seemed the more likely to grab the next goal. However, two minutes before the interval, Ogunseye beat the off-side trap, danced around visiting goalkeeper Zeden Machacek and finished confidently to level the scores. The gusto with which he, his teammates and the management celebrated this goal (and indeed those that were to follow) showed that it wasn’t only the visitors to whom this game meant a great deal.

As the rain started to hammer down for the first ten minutes or so of the second half, the match resumed the pattern that had played out for much of the opening 45 minutes. Guildford controlling possession and The Bec doggedly trying to stay in the game.

Then the rain stopped and everything changed. Suddenly the visitors took control and Guildford were hanging on. During this period, the visitors hit the bar and saw a goal-bound header blocked on the line by a home defender who didn’t know much about his vital intervention. By now, I had retaken my position by the Guildford bench, and it was clear from their increasingly nervous demeanour that they weren’t overly enamoured by what they were seeing.

As with the opening goal, though, it was the team who had been under the cosh who scored the next one; City defender Luke Beale powerfully heading home from a corner with just under 20 minutes remaining.

The goal seemed to settle The Sweeney and when, with seven minutes left, Ogunseye (again) skinned his markers (there was more than one of them by this stage) and crossed to the far post for substitute Cyril Ocansey to fire home a third, their passage to the Preliminary Round seemed secure.

The Bec had other ideas, though. Following a horrendous error in the home defence, the hard-working Alistair Wiltshire got a deserved goal, calmly placing the ball into the empty net. With around five minutes still to play, the game was very much alive.

However, despite late pressure, including a couple of corners, no further clear-cut opportunities were forthcoming and the referee’s final whistle brought to an end a game which this particular neutral would have quite happily watched another 45 minutes of.

For Guildford City, then, dreams of Wembley last for another couple of weeks (at least), while for Tooting Bec you can be certain that they’ll be doing all they can to make sure that this first taste of FA Cup action is only the beginning.

Enjoyed this blog post? Then you may be interested in reading my kindle book which recounts my 2018/19 groundhopping journey (take a look, it’s only 99p).