Championship Manager Cup: Third Round

Whyteleafe 1

Godalming Town 2

A tremendous effort by the Whyteleafe groundstaff rendered the pitch playable only hours after being virtually underwater from melted snow.

The match started brightly as both sets of players were clearly delighted at having a proper match after weeks in which only light training had been possible.

Whyteleafe had the better of the early exchanges with Sam Butler and Kieran McCann, recently Croydon Athletic's Young Player of the Year, prominent.

Butler's inswinging corners were causing trouble for Town keeper Rodney Chiweshe. In the sixth minute Leon McDowall was pushed down in the penalty area but the Leafe appeal was waved away.

After 18 minutes a careless clearance from Leafe keeper Rob O'Hara gave James Wade an open shot at goal and he made no mistake to give Godalming a lead which was at that point against the run of play.

Almost immediately a timely interception from Chris Head, newly returned to the Leafe, saved an almost certain second goal. The same player cleared again from the resultant corner.

Leafe were playing some fine mid-field football but the final pass forward to the strikers was often careless.

Watson latched on to a long McDowall pass but was narrowly offside. The tricky runs of Sam Butler and the physical power of Darren Watson were causing Town problems, but co-ordination was lacking at times and some of Leafe's early brightness was now fading.

Town striker Richard Shittu fell dramatically clutching his face but staged a remarkable recovery when the referee ignored him.

In the last minute of the first half, a handball in the penalty area gave Town a penalty, but Victor Kiri struck the ball spectacularly high over O'Hara's goal.

Having been lectured twice in the first half, Jason Goodchild was booked for a reckless tackle at the start of the second.

A sharp interception by O'Hara prevented Shittu from increasing the visitor's lead. Russell Pym was then booked for what was clearly a revenge tackle on Goodchild.

In the 56th minute a sly push by Town veteran Shaun Elliott on Leon McDowall gave the victim the chance to show the visitors how penalties should be taken, so Leafe were level.

Leafe were now rampant and some of the Town tackling was showing signs of desperation.

On 67 minutes Phil Williams went on a mazy run down the left and was allowed the freedom to slot the ball in from an acute angle. Leafe captain Ryan Royston had spotted an infringement but the referee was unwilling to discuss the matter with him.

The goal seemed to deflate Leafe or maybe they were simply tiring and Godalming began to dominate. O'Hara was bundled off the ball and only a desperate game of head tennis by the Leafe defenders prevented further scoring.

Leafe manager Massey took the chance to blood three youth players who all performed brightly in the closing stages but despite a flurry of late inswinging corners Leafe finally ran out of steam.

This was a good performance against one of the Division's better sides and with no Cup distractions Leafe can concentrate on improving their already respectable League position for the rest of the season.

Leafe's men of the match were Ryan Royston….and the groundstaff. It was nice to be playing again.

Whyteleafe: O'Hara, Aldous (Symon 71), Head, Sidwell, (Webster 77), Platel, Royston, Goodchild, McCann, McDowall, Watson (Skinner 77), Butler

Unused subs: Dilley, Kember (M)