Report | City frustrated by resolute opponents

City were beaten at home for the first time in the League by a resolute Farnham Town as we slipped to a 2-1 defeat.

The game was just seconds old when Elis Watts won a corner that was dealt with by the visitors.

Another neat move shortly afterwards saw King Baidoo asking questions of the visitors’ defence and as he looked for Kane Simpson, his cross was cleared for another corner.

We were looking lively in the opening exchanges as Ed Williams almost picked out Simpson in a good position at the far post and then Watts tried his luck but was just off target.

An early injury to Taylor for the visitors meant that they had to change their system.

A positive break from Simpson saw him cross the ball invitingly from the by-line for Williams, who was denied by a smart save from Eacott.

The first opening for the visitors saw them catch us on the counter-attack following a loose ball in the 25^th minute and it was Mackenzine who headed the ball wide as the cross came in from Dean.

Following yet another corner, Harry Emmett dragged a strike well wide and moments later, the visitors went ahead just past the half-hour mark when a counter-attack ended with substitute, Owen Dean, finding the net with a neat effort.

A free-kick from the right-hand side from Mason saw the ball somehow find its way through into the far corner of the net to double the visitors’ advantage just a couple of minutes after they had gone ahead.

As the clock ticked down at the end of the opening period, Emmett did well with an inviting ball into the danger zone that just evaded those waiting in the middle as Farnham breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Into stoppage time at the end of the half and more good pace from Baidoo out wide saw him cross in search of Simpson but Eacott was alert to make an important claim for the away team.

The goal that we craved came deep into stoppage time when a long throw-in wasn’t cleared properly and as the ball came back in from Williams, the flick-on found Sion Spence who was on hand to force the ball over the line to reduce the arrears.

We ended the opening period on the attack and the hope is that we will be able to continue in the same vein after the restart.

The second half started with an early chance for Obi at the back post, but his close-range effort was saved well by Jared Thompson.

The visitors were conscious of the fact that we would come out looking to make a quick start to the half and they were able to take the sting out of the opening exchanges, whilst continuing to look a threat on the break and one such raid ended with a well-timed challenge from Williams to halt them in their tracks inside the area.

Jones combined well with Watts and as he crossed, the ball found its way to Baidoo who in turn teed up Simpson, whose effort was blocked.

Genuine chances were few and far between as the second period went on. We were seeing plenty of the ball but our opponents were resolute to defend their lead and make it a stop-start affair in order to frustrate any attempts we had in search of a leveller.

After Watts was booked for a strong challenge, at the other end, Harry Pinchard did well to get to the by-line as his cross was scrambled clear for a corner, which was cleared.

As we entered the final quarter-of-an-hour, Watts was replaced by Joe Hanks and he got straight into the action with an intelligent cross in search of Simpson at the far post as the visitors conceded yet another corner, which they were able to clear.

We made a double change with around five minutes to go as Marcus Day and Ben Richards-Everton entered the action in place of Spence and Emmett respectively.

Our visitors continued to restrict us to just half-chances, whilst they went close with an effort of their own from Liddle as the clock ticked down.

Into stoppage time and Baidoo’s cross was met by Hanks but Eacott, as he had been for most of the evening, was alert to the danger to thwart City. Shortly afterwards, Marcus Day did well to find Ben Richards-Everton only for the offside flag to stop us in our tracks.

It ended up being one of those nights as we were left frustrated by our opponents who remained resolute to see the game out.

CITY | J. Thompson, Leadbitter, Jones, O’Regan, Williams, Spence (Day 84), Watts (Hanks 76), Pinchard, Emmett (Richards-Everton 84), Baidoo, Simpson. Subs not used: Roberts, Obieri.

Booking(s): Watts, Pinchard

Goal(s): Spence (45+3)