The scoreline may not tell the whole story of the game, but the fact remains that Leighton Town fell to a 6-0 home defeat to Guildford City on Saturday.
Despite giving another good battling performance, Town were simply outgunned by the play-off chasing visitors, with four goals before the break and two more in the second half giving the Surrey side a flattering Bell Close win.
Town’s problems weren’t helped by a pre-match injury sustained by goalkeeper Sam Mazurek, who bravely played on because the home side had no replacement to call on.
Mazurek could not stretch his arm without a great deal of pain and as a result was unable to stop some of the Guildford efforts he usually would have dealt with – his handling and kicking seriously hampered by a rib injury.
New signing Jack Downes made his debut on the right side of midfield as Leighton again made changes to their team.
But Guildford took the lead in the 12th minute before doubling their advantage on 20 minutes.
Jordan Davis was one of the few main bright sparks for Town and he went close to pulling a goal back. But it wasn’t to be and instead the visitors added a third goal at the other end.
Good work from Downes saw Sean Bishop go close, but the hosts were dealt another cruel blow before the interval as Guildford added a fourth against the run of play.
Despite facing a four-goal deficit, Town were the better side for periods of the second half.
But their lack of cutting edge in front of goal was evident again, and the only remaining goals were fired past the helpless Mazurek.
The brave Leighton keeper was somehow able to prevent Guildford from increasing their lead further late on – producing a superb reflex save to divert one fierce effort over the crossbar
There was again no lack of effort from Town, but a lack of experience and quality which has now seen them lose their last seven games. Next up is a trip to Fleet on Saturday.
