Woking 2 Macclesfield Town 5
The Vanarama National League
14th November 2015


Woking were comprehensively beaten by a silky performance from Macclesfield Town to fall to a fourth defeat in six games in all competitions.

The Cards struggled to fight back against a clinical opposition who fully deserved the three points at the Laithwaite Community Stadium after storming to a two-goal lead in the first half and holding off a spirited comeback by Woking to take victory.

Standout performer Kristian Dennis bagged a hat-trick with goals in either half for the Silkmen after Danny Whitehead had opened the scoring. Having set up a two-goal cushion in the first half, Neill Byrne’s well-taken strike in the 49th minute made the points safe.

Dan Holman’s seventh goal of the season in between Dennis’ second and third strikes of the afternoon briefly gave the home side some hope but in the closing stages Joey Jones’ late goal, a gift from former Cards goalkeeper Shwan Jalal, gave a mark of respectability to the score.

The defeat sees Woking slip to 17th in the Vanarama National League table but they remain nine points above the relegation zone after teams below them also lost.

The game started in driving rain with both sides feeling their way into the contest, with Jalal the busier of the two stoppers in the opening exchanges.

Woking boss Garry Hill expressed his happiness at his team’s improvement in the second half against Braintree Town on Tuesday night and despite starting on the front foot, the home side fell behind inside the first quarter of an hour.

Chris Arthur was caught napping by Macclesfield’s Chris Holroyd who stormed down the right flank to deliver a dangerous cross which Dennis blasted at goal but Jake Cole was equal to it. However, Woking failed to clear their lines and the ball fell kindly to Whitehead who picked his spot to give the Silkmen the lead.

Hill deployed a 4-1-4-1 formation with Adam Cunnington the sole striker and when the Cards were in possession the wide players John Goddard (pictured) and Holman pushed further forward to create a three-pronged attack.

Despite a spirited fightback from the home side, they continued to struggle to pose a sustained threat to the Macclesfield goal. Matters suddenly became trickier for Woking when they went two behind as Dennis lashed a surprise 25-yard strike from a headed flick forward for his 13th league goal of the season.

The away side set up a resilient defence with Woking asking the questions during the final ten minutes of the opening period without troubling Jalal too much in the opposition goal.

Holman provided the goalkeeper the biggest test of the half with a left-foot curling effort which bounced just in front of Jalal in the slippery conditions but the ‘keeper smothered the danger.

Just before the interval Goddard had a decent free-kick saved by Jalal and Macclesfield instantly broke up the other end, forcing Cole into an excellent diving save to palm away a Paul Lewis shot.

Half-time: Woking 0 Macclesfield Town 2

Woking manager Hill looked to shake things up at halftime with Cunnington replaced by Kadell Daniel in attack and despite some early pressure the Cards conceded their third goal of the game in the 49th minute.

More smart work by Macclesfield’s wide men produced a penetrating cross to Byrne whose deft flick nestled into Cole’s goal.

The deficit didn’t discourage Woking who continued to push forward and a sustained period of pressure resulted in a goalmouth scramble, but the Silkmen were able to clear their lines.

Unfortunately, it was more misery for the Cards just after the hour mark when Dennis broke through the Woking backline and charged at Cole before slotting the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs for his second goal.

With the game now effectively out of reach, Hill looked to refresh the home side with a double substitution as Bruno Andrade and Jake Caprice came on for Terrell Thomas and Matt Robinson.

The courageous Cards continued to press the away side with a barrage of crosses and one eventually fell the way of Holman who slammed it in from close range for his seventh league goal of the campaign.

Woking’s goal added some respectability to the score until Dennis sealed a fantastic display by completing his hat-trick. The Macclesfield forward produced an excellent twist and strike from the edge of the box to curl a right-footed effort past Cole.

The home side kept fighting and were gifted a goal late on when a floated cross was fumbled by Jalal and the ball bounced off Joey Jones to trickle into the net. Macclesfield narrowly missed out on inflicting more misery on Woking after hitting the woodwork in injury time.

This result is Woking’s heaviest defeat of the season and manager and coach will be looking for an immediate response next Saturday when the team travel up to Chester for a difficult looking away trip.

Woking: Jake Cole, Chris Arthur, Brian Saah, Terell Thomas (Jake Caprice 65), Cameron Norman, John Goddard, Joey Jones, Jimmy Keohane, Matt Robinson (Bruno Andrade 65), Daniel Holman, Adam Cunnington (Kadell Daniel 45)

Unused subs: Nick Hamman, Mark Ricketts

Goals: Holman (74), Jones (86)

Yellow card: Arthur

Macclesfield Town: Shwan Jalal, Danny Fitzpatrick, Tony Diagne, Neill Byrne, Dan Cowan, Daniel Whitaker, Paul Turnbull, Paul Lewis (Danny Rowe 76), Chris Holroyd, Danny Whitehead (Jack Sampson 81), Kristian Dennis (Reece Styche 81)

Unused subs: Richie Branagan, George Pilkington

Goals: Whitehead (13), Dennis (25, 61, 80), Byrne (49)

Sponsors’ MOTM: John Goddard

Attendance: 1,324