Cards face another tough trip
Brian Caffarey
10:34am, Thu 23rd Aug 2012
Forest Green Rovers v Woking
3pm on Saturday 25 August 2012
The Cards’ second away trip of the season this Saturday is another very tough one, with big-spending Forest Green Rovers one of the outside bets for a play-off place. But Garry Hill’s side are in confident mood after two successive home wins, including an excellent second-half display against Barrow, and will surely be aiming to come away with at least a point.
WOKING
The Cards looked a little nervous on their first away trip, at Wrexham, on the opening day of the season but the subsequent home wins over Dartford and Barrow have given them a fine platform on which to build for the rest of the season. Garry Hill was hoping that Gez Sole would have recovered in time from his knee injury to be available for Saturday’s game but it seems likely, in any case, that Garry will stick with the same starting eleven as against Barrow, with the likes of Adam Doyle and Jack Parkinson having to bide their time on the bench.
FOREST GREEN ROVERS
Woking fans will tend to remember Rovers as perennial strugglers who even when they ended up in the relegation places usually had the good fortune (unlike Woking!) to be reprieved by the enforced demotion of some other club. But times have changed at The New Lawn. Rovers finished in a very respectable 10th place last season and, with money being ploughed in by Chairman Dale Vince, have signalled in no uncertain terms that their intention is to gain promotion to the Football League. Manager Dave Hockaday reckons that the key to success is having lots of goalscorers and says that he has now got eight to choose from! They include some well-known names in Magno Vieira (most recently with Fleetwood Town), Reece Styche (who headed Rovers’ goal charts in 2010-11), Ben Wright (top scorer at Braintree last season) and Yan Klukowski, who netted 18 times for Rovers last year. But there are some familiar non-League names elsewhere too, including former Luton defender Ed Asafu-Adjaye, midfielder Al Bangura and defender Jamie Turley.
Rovers have had an unbeaten start to the season:
Forest Green Rovers 1 Cambridge United 1
AFC Telford 1 Forest Green Rovers 2
Gateshead 1 Forest Green Rovers 1
GETTING THERE
The New Lawn
Another Way
Nailsworth
GL6 0FG (Satnav: GL6 0ET)
Official website: www.forestgreenrovers.com
By Coach
The Cards Trust coach leaves Kingfield at 11.30am. The cost is £16 for Trust members and £21 for non-members. To find out if there are any seats left, ring the Club Shop or email shop@wokingfc.co.uk
By car
Take the M4 west-bound towards Bristol and exit at J18. Then head north on the A46 to Nailsworth. At the mini-roundabout turn left onto Spring Hill and The New Lawn is at the top of the road on the left.
By train
The nearest station is Stroud, which is four miles from the ground. The best bet looks to be the 11.46 from Woking to Basingstoke, arriving at 12.05. Then take the 12.19 to Reading, getting in at 12.35. Then jump on the 12.42 to Stroud, arriving at 13.45. There is a similar reverse journey at 34 minutes past the hour from Stroud on the way back.
ADMISSION PRICES
Adults: £16
Over 65s: £12
Under 21s: £8
Under 16s: £5
LAST TIME OUT
Woking 1 Forest Green Rovers 0
FA Trophy 1st Round
12 December 2009
The Cards, experiencing their first season in the BSBS, beat Conference Premier Forest Green Rovers in a hard-fought FA Trophy tie. Rovers had plenty of possession but rarely looked like seriously troubling the Woking defence. The only goal of the game came in the first half when Rovers keeper, Terry Burton, rushed out to block Tony Sinclair’s through ball to Luke Medley. The ball spun loose to Palace loanee Nathaniel Pinney, who, from distance, steered it into the open goal.
Woking: Ross Worner, Tony Sinclair, Aswad Thomas, Mark Ricketts, Tom Hutchinson, Jon Boardman, Moses Ademola (Ola Sogbanmu 89), Harry Arter, Luke Medley (Sam Sloma 64), Nathaniel Pinney (Ricky Anane 76), Giuseppe Sole
NEXT GAME
Don’t miss the Cards’ next home game on Tuesday night when they take on Alan Devonshire’s Braintree Town! Come on down to Kingfield and cheer the side on to what we hope will be their third successive home win.
Come on, you Cards!
