Fine win for Cards

Hampton and Richmond Borough 0 Woking 2
5 September 2009

This was a very impressive performance from the Cards against last season’s runners-up. For the fourth game running Graham Baker’s side kept a clean sheet and his decision to promote Delano Sam-Yorke to the starting line-up was vindicated by a strong performance, capped by the second goal of the afternoon, which effectively killed off the game.

Delano’s promotion, with Gez Sole dropping to the bench, was the only change from the side which began against Eastleigh on Bank Holiday Monday. The opening quarter of an hour or so was fairly unremarkable, with both sides quickly into the tackle in a fiercely-contested midfield and no real openings. Delano gave notice of the threat he carried as he went round a defender on the left, earning a corner. At the other end, Ross Worner, in another impressive performance, barely had a shot to save all afternoon but was nevertheless involved as he was forced to punch clear twice and rush out very quickly to thwart the dangerous Craig Dundas.

Woking gradually began to take control of the game but the home side had a good chance in the 25th minute when a long ball out left set Yaku clear but he shot narrowly over the bar as Ross narrowed the angle.

The turning point came in the 32nd minute when Craig Watkins was badly fouled as he ran through the middle. (Steve Snelling’s ministrations led to six minutes being added on; the second half saw nine minutes added on as Steve tended the same player again!)

With the ball in a central position just outside the ‘D’, Sam Sloma curled a superb free-kick into the top corner to give the Cards a 1-0 lead.

In the 38th minute Dundas threatened to restore parity as he got the better of Tom Hutchinson on the bye-line. Worner half-blocked the shot but had to rely on Tony Sinclair to hoof clear just in front of the goal. In a similar position two minutes later Dundas’s shot was blocked.

In added time the Cards came close to extending their lead with several fine moves. A long ball out left reached Sloma, who hit a low drive, which the home keeper fielded well. A Watkins break down the right saw the ball passed inside to Sam-Yorke. His shot was blocked but Sloma made a wonderful reverse pass from out left to free Moses Ademola on the right. He centred to Sam-Yorke, who volleyed well over the bar with the goal very much in his sights. Another attack saw Sam-Yorke go past his man once more but the final ball was poor.

Half-time: Hampton and Richmond Borough 0 Woking 1

After the early, potentially unsettling, break for the second Watkins injury, the Cards maintained the control of the game which they had gradually gained by half-time. For Hampton, the main hope still lay in Dundas. He got the better of Hutchinson once more, only to be foiled by quick covering by Worner, but the defender then got in a superb block to foil another attack.

In the main, though, the impetus lay with Woking as Ademola increasingly found space down the right and Sam-Yorke held the ball up well through the middle and threatened with his pace and power. Ademola’s clever footwork took him into the area, but the move ended with a weak shot straight to the keeper. Another promising attack was spoiled by a poor pass from Watkins behind his strike partner.

The crucial second goal came in the 67th minute. After a crisp left-footed effort from Sam-Yorke, Ademola put in a deep cross beyond the far post. The intelligent Sloma did well to keep it in and pulled it back to the on-rushing Sam-Yorke, who swept it gleefully into the Hampton net. 2-0 to the Cards!

Far from shutting up shop, Woking looked good for a third goal as they found increasing amounts of space between and beyond the Hampton back line. Watkins had a great chance to open his account in a one-on-one with the keeper, but the latter blocked his shot, and Hutchinson headed the resulting corner over the bar.

As the 90 minutes approached Dundas swung wildly at a loose ball and Sam-Yorke was booked as he attempted to reach – with his hand! – a tempting cross from substitute Luke Medley. Moving into the nine minutes added on, Sam-Yorke fired a shot into the side-netting, whilst Watkins spurned a chance to attack a Charlie Moone cross. All that remained was for the hard-working Dundas to fire across the face of the Woking goal before the referee blew his whistle to end an excellent Woking team performance.


Woking (1-11): Ross Worner, Ricky Anane, Aswad Thomas, Mark Ricketts, Tom Hutchinson, Tony Sinclair, Moses Ademola (Luke Medley, 81), Harry Arter (Giuseppe Sole, 67), Craig Watkins, Delano Sam-Yorke (Charlie Moone, 90), Sam Sloma
Unused subs: Daniel Sintim, Joe McNerney
Booked: Delano Sam-Yorke, Charlie Moone
Attendance: 958
My MOTM: Sam Sloma (pictured) – some really intelligent play and a great free-kick, but run close by Delano Sam-Yorke, who is coming on in leaps and bounds this season.