WEYMOUTH 1 WOKING 1
18 NOVEMBER 2008
Woking travelled to Weymouth for the second of back-to-back away fixtures. Luckily, the weather, which had been lousy the previous few days, abated to produce a fine, windless and dry night. Thankfully, the Weymouth pitch, which in previous years had acted as a sponge after rain, had recovered well, producing a surprisingly hard, bouncy surface.
As expected, Colin Miles was suspended following his straight red at Eastbourne and was replaced by the fit-again Paul Lorraine, who took the captain?s armband due to the surprise absence of the injured Tom Hutchinson. Matt Pattison retained his place in midfield, alongside Quamina, Vernazza and El Kholti. Up front Wilf partnered Liam in a 4-4-2 formation.
It had been hoped that the troubled Terras might have other things on their mind when the game kicked off but this proved far from the case. Their tactics of fast, high balls down the flanks seemed to cause the Woking defence problems early on but corners were dealt with capably, the vocal Lenny Pidgeley, in his last game, organising things well. His steady qualities will be sorely missed.
Despite the Weymouth pressure, resulting in very little possession early on, a good break resulted in a free-kick close to the Terras? box, which, sadly, was easily cleared. A Lorraine header from a corner sailed high over the bar. So, the the picture was set for a fairly non-descript passage of play.
Things livened up when a through ball cut open the Woking defence and Beavon hit the post, the ball bouncing wide. A shot from Liam comfortably missed the target. Woking, relying on the break, were caught offside a number of times and, although there was some neat work from the front two, they were unable to make any real impact. Liam was booked in the 30th minute for a high tackle which looked worse than it was.
A Weymouth attack late in the first half produced a good save from Lenny. Then a quick break upfield saw Wilf through but his shot was deflected wide for a corner. Two minutes of added time produced not much more and the half came to a close: a half in which Weymouth seemed a bit sharper but in which Woking seemed to find their feet as it wore on. The travelling faithful recorded their appreciation with a good send-off to the dressing room.
Half-time: Weymouth 0 Woking 0
The second half started with both teams as they were at the end of the first half. Woking went behind in the 50th minute. A fast break down the left produced a swift cross, which was cleared only briefly, with the next ball in producing a header from Coutts to give the Terras the lead.
The question was how we would react. Would we show the same battling qualities we showed the previous Saturday or simply fade away? The answer was very quick in coming. Neat work down the left saw Paul Lorraine of all people clear in front of goal 10 yards out. He neatly slotted the ball inside the post for a goal which was celebrated wildly. If only the attackers could follow his lead!
Danny Bunce blasted a free-kick over the bar before a period of Weymouth pressure ensued, with Lenny pulling off an outstanding save before being penalised for handling the ball outside the box. Fortunately, the referee saw it as unintentional and the free-kick was wasted.
Patrice Konan was booked for appearing to try to kick someone in the head! However, I think it was more about the other player bowing down to the big man. From the free-kick and play around the box a goalbound Weymouth shot was acrobatically cleared off the line. Liam then weakly shot at the keeper when a pass across the goal would have been a better option. Another decent chance was then well saved by Lenny.
Gez Sole, on for Liam, was put through and saw a fine effort saved by the Terras keeper. The resulting corner saw Wilf miss a header when virtually unchallenged. Another good break came to nothing with yet another offside: too many on the night for my liking.
As the three minutes of injury time approached a Weymouth corner produced an excellent catch from Lenny. Bradley Quamina didn?t want to be left out of the referee?s book and duly received a yellow card for a trip halfway into the Woking half. The Woking pressure ended in injury time with an excellent shot from Matt Pattison.
The final whistle blew and the spoils were shared. The travelling Woking support showed how much the players? efforts had been appreciated and this was duly acknowledged by the team. In summary, it was a good battling performance. Whilst in our current situation three points would have been nice, at least we got something. If we could only convert more of our chances, things would be so much easier, though! Well done, lads! Bring on Torquay!
Woking: Lenny Pidgeley, Daniel Spence, Patrice Konan, Paul Lorraine, Danny Bunce; Matt Pattison, Bradley Quamina, Paolo Vernazza, Abdou El Kholti, Liam Marum (Giuseppe Sole, 75), Wilfried Domoraud
Unused subs: Carl Pentney, Charlie Moone, Delano Sam-Yorke, Joel Ledgister
Attendance: 696
My MOTM: Paul Lorraine (pictured): wore the captain?s armband with pride and battled for every ball. Has come on leaps and bounds this season.
