Staines Town manager Steve Cordery acted decisively to bolster his options up-front ahead of Saturday’s ultimately convincing Blue Square South defeat of local rivals Woking at Wheatsheaf Park.
Having lost striker Marc Charles-Smith, possibly for the remainder of the season and with top-scorer Ali Chabaan still recovering from a slight recurrence of a knee injury, Cordery needed to act.
The transfer activity started when the Swans` boss travelled to Harrow Borough last Thursday evening to finalise a ‘loan’ deal for AFC Wimbledon’s Elliott Godfrey, who was appearing for the south London side in a London Senior Cup tie.
The 27-year-old Canadian played very effectively in the first 45 minutes for the Dons before being substituted as agreed and signing for the Swans - a side whom he’d come up against on a handful of occasions before when appearing for Hampton & Richmond Borough as the two rivals came head-to-head in the Ryman League in previous seasons.
An aggressive and hard-working player, Godfrey’s obvious talents were much in demand before the deal was completed with a handful of other sides all interested in taking him on a similar loan.
On the following day and just some 24 hours prior to the kick-off on Saturday, Cordery then completed a loan deal with Coca-Cola Championship club Reading for 17-year-old striker Andrew White, who is being given the opportunity to broaden his experience with a tenure at the high-flying Swans` Wheatsheaf Park home.
Both players were selected to start in the local derby against Woking on Saturday and both enjoyed very promising debuts with young White opening the scoring in the first minute of the second half when his charging down a weak back-pass paid dividends as Cards` keeper Ross Worner’s clearance hit the on-rushing striker before bouncing back and into the net for 1-0.
Both players showed a desire to impress and played their parts in what became a memorable afternoon for the play-off chasing Swans.
Photo: Andrew White (centre) is congratulated on opening the scoring on Saturday with fellow debutant Elliott Godfrey (right) and Howard Newton.
