Guildford Saints Blues 3 Staines Town 2

Blues recovered well to win their first home match of the season against Staines at the Varsity Centre. In beautiful September sunshine the Blues stormed to an early two goal lead with Tom Oldland latching on to an excellent Dan Price free kick and Ed Davis nipping in to nick a goal almost out of the goalkeeper's hands. When Dan & Ed were taken off 15 minutes before half time to rest them for the second period the Blues seemed to implode. Massive holes appeared in the centre of the park and Staines took advantage of this to score two good goals of their own. At half time it was 2-2 and the Blues were on the back foot.

A re-jig at half time saw George move to centre back and Tom to his more familiar role in holding midfield. Jack and Kane came on to reasonably good effect and with Mike Bell getting more of the ball the Blues started to rally. When Dan re-entered the frey with 25 minutes to go we posed much more threat going forward. Fittingly it was Dan who capped of a hugely impressive display with an inch perfect free kick 12 minutes before time. There was still time however for Nathan to pull off a miraculous one handed save to secure three points for Blues.

This has been a good start to the season for the Blues. Dan pulled all the strings for the side today which leaves me a little concerned about what will happen when he eventually returns to the Saints squad, but in previous matches I have seen enough of what the two Mikes can do to know that on our day we can be a force in this division this season. Defensively we need some work as we still get caught too flat footed and are vulnerable to the ball over the top but we know this and we can work on this in training. Good result today. Well done to those involved.

Man of the Match - Dan Price

Guildford Saints 4 Staines Albion 5

The Saints threw away a good start against a determined Staines Albion side today and fell to a frustrating home defeat. A clearly disappointed Kevin had some very strong words to say in his match report;

"After a bright start Saints stormed into a two goal lead with Alex Mattock converting a fine run by Matt Burton and Tom hitting home a rebound from his own shot. However following this fine start Saints sank into a defensive abyss with too many players playing below their usual standards, in fact such was the ineptitude from the midfield and defence, that even when two unmarked Staines players were pointed out at a corner we still failed to mark them and suffered the inevitable consequence. 2-1 half time.

Even after this wake up call we did not sort ourselves out in the second half and only because of Josh did we not fall behind. In fact Saints went 3-1ahead through Tom R but Staines eventually levelled as our defensive weakness was cruelly exposed. We had a glimmer of hope when some poor goalkeeping gifted Tom his hat trick but again we failed to secure the game and Staines were able to take advantage of our errors to first equalise and then to score the winning goal.

With each corner today we looked pathetic and overall our defensive play was poor. It's obvious to me that some of today's players need to look at themselves and ask themselves questions about their attitude and focus. Too many players went missing and there was far too much casualness in our play. At this level any sloppy play gets punished and we can not afford to let ourselves down like this again if we want to mount a sustained challenge this season.

I am going to single four players for whom this is not a problem. Matt Burton, Tom Richards, Josh Betts and Christian Shaw - the other displays today were, I'm afraid, dismal!

Man of the Match - Matt Burton

St Francis Sports 0 Guildford Saints Blues 2

With Simon away, Derek took the Blues first match of the season and they stormed to a great win over local rivals St Francis. This was Derek's take on the game;

"In the first half, despite some strong attacks from St Francis’s forwards, our defence stood up to everything they had to throw at us. When the odd shot did get through Nathan took command and made some great saves, at the other end we had some good chances but didn’t manage to convert them into goals, so at half time the score remained 0-0.

After a quick team talk at half time we came out and we were the better of the two sides. We used the wings more and it wasn’t long before a ball was slotted through to Ed and we went 1-0 up. We had several more shots on goal, and one disallowed, where the linesman flagged Dan offside (I was standing next to him at the time and he got it so wrong!!). After that subs had to be made due to tired legs and some bad knocks, but we didn’t stop going forward and causing them problems.

Alex Wells came back on after a rest and after some good passing play was sent through on goal and he scored our (official!) second goal. We then went on to have another goal disallowed when Kane was judged to be offside, so the end result was 2-0.

Today, in my match report, I haven’t picked out any individual names for praise, because I feel the squad all deserve praise - today they played as a team and you won as a team. WELL DONE BOYS!"

Man of the Match - George Collett

Mayford Athletic Oaks 2 Guildford Saints 1

In Kevin's absence this weekend Chris Mattock stepped into the breech for this hastily arranged friendly. This was his view on the match;

"First pre-season defeat for the Saints! After a tough warm-up and a tactical team talk from the stand in manager, the boys had their own meeting and decided how they would actually play!! Missing Martin and Ben at the back, Matt and Joe R slipped comfortably into the role of centre backs and the team soon settled down with Alex going close from range early on but with Saints missing a couple of half chances, some sloppy defending from a Mayford corner allowed the home team to take the lead.

Good defending, particularly from Matt and Christian, absorbed some further Mayford pressure. And then from a long free kick Matt found Seb who sent the ever chasing Tom Richards on a run down the right - he superbly crossed for Julian to coolly slot away the equaliser.

In an open end to end game both teams had chances with Josh in goal making a couple of fine saves, with one brilliant tip over the bar from a free kick. Mike and Ollie came on as subs replacing an impressive and attacking Christian and Conor. The midfield, especially Mike D battled hard, but created little for Tom upfront.

Half time came and the stand in manager decided to change things around with Julian injured, he pushed Ross and Jo forward... but this unfortunately backfired, with ten man Mayford drilling a chance home, giving Josh no chance! Having re organised AGAIN(!), Jamie - on his birthday - working well with Seb, flashed a shot just past the post. From a corner Mike had a bullet header cruelly blocked on the line and despite five last minutes of frantic pressure, Saints failed to find the equaliser.

A 2 - 1 loss, with the stand in boss making some odd tactical changes; but overall a good warm up for the season proper which starts next weekend."

Man of the Match - Christian Shaw

"P.S. The boys will look forward to the return of Kevin Jose Mourinho next week."

GSFC Saints Squad Numbers - Season 2009-10

This season's Saints squad numbers are as follows;

1 Josh Betts, 2 Christian Shaw, 3 Ross Pearn, 4 Matt Burton, 5 Martin Peters, 6 Ben Turner, 7 Alex Mattock (capt), 8 Connor Duke, 9 Seb Edwards, 10 Tom Richards, 11 Julien Amoruso, 12 Ollie Tilley, 13 Nathan Barnes, 14 Jamie Henderson, 15 Joe Richards & 16 Mike Donne

GSFC Blues Squad Numbers - Season 2009-10

This season's Blues squad numbers are as follows;

1 Nathan Wells (capt.) 2 George Collett

3 Joe Barras 4 Tom Oldland

5 Marcus Taylor 6 Jacob Rudman (vice capt.)

7 Jack Craig 8 Mike Bell

9 Ed Davis 10 Dan Price

11 Chris Smith 12 Mike Petri

13 Lawrence Bird 14 Kane Nash

15 Alex Oldland 16 Luke Holloway

17 Alex Wells 18 James Busby

Wild Cards - Tyler Owen, Dominic Dubois & Rob Butter

Pre Season Friendlies

Matches arranged so far are;

Sun 6th September - Esher 4-3 Blues

Sun 6th September - Knaphill Wanderers 2-5 Saints

Tues 8th September - Guildford City 1-0 Blues

Thur 10th September - Lower Green 0-2 Saints

Sun 13th September - Blues 1-2 Woking & Maybury

Sun 13th September - Ascot Utd 4-7 Saints

Guildford Saints Blues 1 Woking & Maybury 2

In truth we should have been out of sight in this game before half time and how we then went on to lose it absolutely baffles me!!

The Blues started very brightly. There was good energy and improved attacking intent. Jack and Chris supported Ed well up front and we totally dominated early proceedings. Midway through the half (unbelievably!) Ed missed a penalty though and Woking were given some encouragement. However we continued to create chances and eventually Mike B scored a well deserved goal to put as ahead at half time.

In the second half Woking changed a couple of players around  and they looked a lot more lively, particularly up front where they suddenly found some pace... and, unfortunately, plenty of space! That being said it was still against the run of play when they equalised after some poor Blues defending when we seemed unable to clear our lines properly. Blues pushed onto equalise but were caught out at the back late in the game and Woking stole a late winner to seal the match 2-1. 

On an individual basis there were good performances from Marcus, George and Mike B. Some improvement too from Jack, Chris and Alex W. But as a team we were guilty of poor concentration and organisation, particularly in the second half. We must be able to keep our shape defensively even when we are striving for a winner. Too often the gap between midfield and defence catches us out. Let's hope that we can put this right before the season starts next weekend!

Man of the Match - George Collet

Ascot Utd 4 Guildford Saints 7

This is Kevin's match report...

"Playing against our divisional opponents, Saints were right on it from the start with Tom looking really sharp flashing a shot wide within the first couple of minutes. Then a nice flowing move, started by Jamie and with a couple of 1-2's between Julien and Tom, saw Tom flash a shot past the 'keeper. However Ascot hit back after a nice possession piece of football and the right winger flashed a shot passed Josh into the top left hand corner of the net. Julien then restored the lead - after missing an easier header moments earlier - lashing home a right foot shot. Still Ascot came back but really the goal should never have happened... a bit of indecision allowed the Ascot forward in and Josh clipped his foot to bring him down for a penalty. Josh nearly made amends by getting a hand to it but in it went.

A couple of changes were made with Seb, Matt and Joe R coming on and almost immediately Matt and Seb combined and Tom finished. Still more goals to come with Josh parrying a shot only for another Ascot player stroked it home, half time 3-3.

The second half saw the Saints take better control of the midfield and playing the ball quickly and simply. Seb capped a fine display with a fine run down the right and a cracking shot into the top corner of the net to put Saints 4-3 up. Still another comedy of errors at the back saw the ball not being cleared and Alex M, when trying to clear, lashed the ball against Josh and into the net. Saints though stepped up a gear and Tom completed a hat trick before then adding a fourth with a chip over the 'keeper. Julien returned to action to round off the scoring just before the end.

Overall a much better, controlled performance with everyone getting used to playing together. The players today should be pleased with themselves but, as today saw, we now have strength in depth for every position and I will use each of the players at different times as conditions and opponents dictate. We have a higher tempo to our play and pace throughout the side. Football is a squad game and everyone has a part to play this coming season.

Mentions; Jamie H - showed good control and better commitment, Seb - impressive debut, Joe R - full of running and craft, Matt - again another top display in midfield and defence, Ross - another raiding performance and solid defence, Connor - a much more disciplined display.

Man of the Match - Tom Richards

Lower Green 0 Guildford Saints 2

Apart from one of the finest refereeing performances ever seen on Thursday evening... I thought the Saints played quite well too!! Here's Kevin's take on the game;

"This turned out to be a stern test for Saints against a very hard working Lower Green side. Matt Burton filled in for us at centre back and turned in an excellent performance along side Ben. Saints started brightly but lacked any real cutting edge to their attacks even though Tom R was looking for space and any half yard in his usual style. Our midfield still has not gelled and the boys need to be a bit more disciplined and learn how, and when, to go and when to stay - that being said the hard work was there. Josh made a couple of comfortable saves and Lower Green hit the woodwork twice but other than that he had little else to do.

Nathan Barnes came on midway through the first half and started to pull the midfield together and we gradually came back into the match. Defensively though we need to be a touch sharper defending corners and long throws. Tom R hit the bar with a lovely curling shot but 0-0 half time.

The second half was much better from the Saints perspective with the ball being moved quicker and simpler and we began to open up the Lower Green defence with Tom starting to get his shots off - and it was from fine Tom run and shot that we took the lead. The 'keeper did well to parry but Joe was following up and tapped into the net. Not much later and Saints were two up when Tom was sent through by Connor - who was by now starting to play with his head - only to be crudely felled as he was about to turn and shoot. Alex M stepped up and converted the spot kick.

I think all things considered we were good value for the win and it was pleasing to see the boys continue to work hard when things were not coming off and trying to play football."

Men of the Match - Ross Pearn & Matt Burton

Guildford City Tigers 1 Guildford Saints Blues 0

City won the Guildford derby thanks to a well taken goal midway through the second half in what was a very even match. Division Two new boys City  started on the back foot as the Blues attacked with pace and energy but missed the chance to go ahead when Chris blasted a penalty over the bar. Alex W and Tom O looked to spray passes around and Jack & Chris linked up well with them to give the team good width in the early stages. Jamie & James both caused problems for the City defence with their pace and it was pretty much one way traffic in the early stages. City, however, took advantage of the disruption caused by large scale Blues changes midway through the half and started to come into the game more forcing Joe and Luke, in particular, into some last gasp challenges and Nathan into a series of brave saves.

Nathan was called into even more action in the second half as big gaps between the Blues midfield and defence allowed City a series of good scoring opportunities. Eventually Nathan was beaten after a quick City break was superbly converted. Following this the Blues took the remainder of the game to their neighbours with Dan P especially impressing with his driving runs and excellent work rate. Ed had a great chance late in the game as he beat the defence but failed to pull the ball back to his onrushing team mates and shot wide of the goal.

One disappointing aspect of the game saw Alex O booked for dissent. As a referee myself I am determined that my players should play the game in the correct manner win, lose or draw - and be respectful to all officials and opposition at all times. As such Alex will miss the next match and any other players getting cautioned for dissent in the Blues this season will be taken off in that particular game and suspended for the next match as, hopefully, a deterrent.

The overall team performance was good. As with the match on Sunday the boys effort was good but again poor fitness showed particularly in the second half. The players need to take responsibility for this themselves and be working on their fitness in their own time. We need players that can last 80 minutes not 40 particularly if we are going to maintain a sustained challenge this season.

Man of the Match - Nathan Wells 

Esher 4 Guildford Saints Blues 3

The Blues took a pretty much full strength squad to Esher including three new players and the long awaited return of former Saints captain Dan Price and it was the Blues that looked the more lively from the kick off as James B and Jamie H linked up superbly in the early minutes but were unable to convert the chance. Esher rallied after this and the defence came under a bit of pressure. Against the run of play slightly the Blues took the lead though when a "diamond" pass from Chris put Jamie through to slot passed the 'keeper.

The game was very end to end after this. Esher came close on a couple of occasions with Alex O pulling off one particularly acrobatic save to keep them out. We also created a number of chances with Jamie looking a constant threat up front. Esher eventually equalised though when our defenders were very slow to close their opponents down in the penalty area. A quick reshuffle was required shortly after this when Mike B went off injured allowing Joe B to make his debut in a slightly unfamiliar centre midfield role. An Esher free kick saw some disastrous defending and appalling decision making and as a result the inevitable Esher goal!

Dan P entered the fray for the final 10 minutes of the half and was the catalyst for some late Blues pressure capped off just before half time when James toed in the equaliser for the Blues.

The second half followed the pattern of the first really but Blues created less chances and seemed under more pressure not helped by a number of substitutions that disrupted the shape of the side. Esher scored twice in the second period and towards the end some tenacious work by Tom O saw his shot deflected past the stranded Esher 'keeper for a final score of 4-3.

Generally pleased with the effort of our players. There are certainly some big fitness issues out their with Chris, the two Mikes and Jack all needing to work on this a bit more this pre-season. Good to see Dan back and very pleased with George, Joe & Luke who all played well on their debuts. I want to see more attacking play this season and there were good signs in the first half that we can do this but we can never underestimate the work our defence do week in week out and again today they did a grand job against awkward opponents. Jacob again stood out with his strong, committed approach and Tom O, George & Lawrence had good games.

Man of the Match - Jacob Rudman  

Knaphill Wanderers 2 Guildford Saints 5

This was Kevin's report from Sunday...

"A nice bright morning saw the Saints travel to Knaphill for their first friendly of the season. With an enlarged squad following numerous additions it was a chance to see how the new guys fitted in with the rest of last years squad. Keeping the same formation we started with Josh, Joe R, Ben, Martin and Ross at the back with Julien, Mike Donne, Connor Duke, Alex M and Ollie in the middle with Tom up front. It took a while to get going but we soon settled and a crunching tackle by Ross fed the ball to Tom who in turn sent Julien through and it was 1-0 Saints. Whilst it was still 1-0 Knaphill had a couple of half chances but Josh kept them out. A few changes saw Matt Burton, Alex Wells, Nathan Barnes and Christian come on. Minutes later Alex W deftly flicked in a corner to make it 2-0. But credit to Knaphill they came back at us and scored a well taken goal that gave Josh no chance. Still Saints took charge again and another well worked passing move between Julien and Tom R soon restored the two goal advantage with Tom burying his shot past the 'keeper. This then led to the worst passage of defending I have ever seen from a Saints team when they allowed Knaphill from the kick off to run on to goal and put his shot past Josh. Not one Saints player tried to make a tackle and this must not ever happen again!!

The second half was a little less frantic with substitutions from both sides disturbing the game but Saints looked in control and Josh only had to make two saves of note. Our defending was a little tighter but a couple of players are still diving in instead of staying on their feet. The new lads showed up well as I changed their positions and it was Joe R who finished a neat move down the left again started by Ross. Not to be outdone Tom R came back on and outdid his brother by slotting his second and Saints fifth.

Not a bad first match, but we need to be a touch quicker with our passing, being aware of what our team mates are doing and taking responsibility for covering or tracking back. The new lads, Connor, Mike D, Joe R, Matt & Alex W all did well - Mike Donne really impressed. The regular squad players did what I know they are capable of and just need to maintain this level and that includes Nathan Barnes who again looked like he has never been away. However my man of the match was Ross Pearn... with a tan he could be our Ashley Cole!!!" (Ed's note - and that's supposed to be a compliment???)