Cards battle back to secure the points
Stephen Donaghey
10:37pm, Sat 16th Nov 2013
Woking 3 Hyde 2
The Skrill Premier
16th November 2013
Woking survived an early scare to complete back-to-back wins with a 3-2 victory over bottom of the table Hyde. The win, which moves the Cards out of the relegation zone, came courtesy of a brace from loanee Jack Marriott and a strike from Scott Rendell.
The Cards had the majority of the possession at the start of the game but struggled to forge any clear-cut opportunities. Charles Banya and Kevin Betsy provided plenty of width in an attempt to stretch Hyde, whose back line and midfield were sitting very deep, allowing little space for Woking’s creative players to work in.
Despite the home team dominating the ball, the first goal came against the run of play, as winless Hyde took the lead in the fourteenth minute. An inviting cross from the left by Adam Blakeman found Reece Gray, who got to the ball first to side-foot it past Beasant to give the visitors a shock lead.
The influential Gray was Hyde's bright spark and was behind most of Hyde's rare attacking threat, whilst their centre forward Scott Spencer became an isolated target man up front, being well marshalled by Jack Parkinson and Joe McNerney.
There was a further shock for the home crowd on twenty-three minutes when Hyde doubled their lead. It was Gray again who used his pace to skip past McNerney, then showed his composure to slide the ball into the bottom left-hand corner past the onrushing Sam Beasant.
Woking now had a mountain to climb and slowly began to inch their way back into the match and push the visitors onto the defensive. As the interval approached, it was imperative that they reduced the deficit before the break to give themselves a realistic chance to force a victory. Despite the home side's threatening wing play, which saw Kevin Betsy and Charles Banya switch flanks midway through the half, it was a ball down the middle in the fortieth minute which finally unlocked Hyde’s stubborn and determined defence. In a game high on entertainment, but not always matching it in quality, Jack Marriott showed his class with a fine touch to instantly bring the ball under control inside the box before turning to rifle the ball into the roof of the net.
The goal provided just the momentum required as the Cards pushed forward for an equaliser before the half ended. Although this was not forthcoming, despite the home side forcing two further corners, one sensed that Marriott's goal might just provide the impetus for the team to push on in the second half.
Half-time: Woking 1 Hyde 2
As the Kingfield faithful were fervently hoping, Woking started the second half as they had ended the first, firmly on the front foot, and were rewarded with an equaliser inside the first two minutes of the restart. Again, it was clever play by Marriott, who managed to stay onside and pull the ball back to the on-rushing Josh Payne. His goal-bound effort was blocked but the ball fell to Rendell, who swivelled and levelled from close range. It was a deserved goal for the Luton Town loanee who worked tirelessly throughout and dominated aerially, forming part of an exciting partnership with Marriott.
With Woking firmly taking the initiative, they began searching for the all-important third goal. An effort from Rendell was tipped over and Marriott found himself in a couple of promising positions but could only fire wide. As the game entered the final twenty minutes and the support from the home crowd increased, there was only one team striving for all three points. To the palpable relief of the vast majority in the ground, it was that man Marriott again, who popped up with just over fifteen minutes remaining to grab his second goal of the afternoon and his third in two games. Adam Newton was fed down the right and he expertly steered the ball into the path of the young striker, who found the net in front of the joyful KRE for Woking to deservedly take the lead for the first time in the contest.
The goal quashed any belief that the away side would leave Kingfield with their first victory of the season and now even a point was looking out of the question. Woking calmly saw out the remaining period of a frantic match and had opportunities to add more gloss to the scoreline as Payne and Rendell both saw efforts clear the bar late on.
The win sees the Cards climb out of the relegation zone and up to 19th place. A tough test awaits them next weekend, however, when they travel to take on league leaders Cambridge United.
Woking: Sam Beasant, Adam Newton, John Nutter, Joe McNerney, Jack Parkinson, Mark Ricketts, Josh Payne, Kevin Betsy, Charles Banya (John Goddard 67) , Scott Rendell, Jack Marriott (Giuseppe Sole 88).
Unused subs: Aaron Howe, Gavin Williams, Mike Cestor
Goals: Marriott 40, 74, Rendell 47
Hyde: Lawrence Vigouroux, Adam Thurston, Adam Griffin, Glenn Belezika, Luke Ashworth, Liam Tomsett, David Poole (Martin Devaney 75), Adam Blakeman, Scott Spencer, Reece Gray, Connor Hughes (Tom Collins 78)
Unused subs: Andy Fitzgerald, David McNiven, Jake Pollard
Goals: Gray 14, 23
Cautions: Gray 72
Attendance: 1381
Sponsor's MOTM: Jack Marriott. Another sparkling performance from the Ipswich loanee.