WOKING 0 STEVENAGE BOROUGH 1

 

Woking succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against their main rivals today in a performance which did little to warm the supporters on a cold and wet afternoon at Kingfield.

 

Woking lined up with Lenny Pidgeley back in goal, with a defence of Konan, Huchinson, Miles and Danny Bunce. Goma Lambu returned to the right wing with El Kholti on the left with Quamina and Spence in central midfield and Marum and Domoraud playing up front.

 

Stevenage started the brighter of the two teams with Miles having to make an important challenge from an early Borough attack. Stevenage were rewarded for their bright start with a penalty after less than 10 minutes. Having broken down the left side and reaching the Woking goal line, the Stevenage winger looked to cut back inside but as he did he was met by Quamina who appeared to slip, rather than slide, in but in doing so contact was made and a penalty was awarded. Morison stepped up and fired a decent penalty to Lenny?s top left-hand corner, but Lenny was more than equal to it as he made an excellent save at full stretch. Hope stirred that this could be the catalyst to inspire Woking.

 

It was not to be. Minutes later Woking failed to close down Peter Vincenti, who rocketed a truly stunning shot into the top right corner, leaving Lenny no chance. After this Stevenage were in the ascendancy, with Woking having only two chances of note. Marum managed to round the keeper but his weak shot was easily cleared by a Stevenage defender and Tom Hutchinson had a shot from the edge of the area, which was the only real save Chris Day had to make in the first half. In truth Woking failed to make any real impact on the first half and Stevenage easily deserved their 1st half lead.

 

 

Woking came out for the second half looking livelier and keener to compete. Marum managed to do some good work down the left-hand side but his curling shot/cross evaded both the goal and the sliding Goma Lambu. Stevenage continued to pass the ball well and could have scored a second but a mazy dribble into the box ended with a good save by Pidgeley, before being scrambled clear.

 

Woking continued to press for an equaliser and Marum again looked purposeful with the ball at his feet as he cut in from the left-hand side, beat a couple of Borough defenders before firing narrowly wide. Danny Bunce had a free-kick in a dangerous position but he was unable to get it up and down and it drifted narrowly over. Wilfried Domoraud was able to slip Marum through but he blazed Woking?s best chance over the bar from 9 yards out. As time slipped away Domoraud hit a long shot that was narrowly over and there were a few hopeful balls hit into the box, but in reality Chris Day, the Stevenage keeper, had very little to do.

 

Although the second half performance was an improvement, the team need to realise that to succeed in this league they need compete for 90 minutes, as they were unable to come back from a weak performance in the first half. Lenny put in an excellent performance in what might be his final game before returning to Millwall, with the defence again looking solid for the most part. Quamina and Spence both had promising moments and Liam Marum at times looked threatening with the ball at his feet but once again gave little support to the team and offered nothing in the air, except for the occasional foul.

 

On the whole, it was a disappointing afternoon and until Woking are able to hold onto the ball, dominate the midfield and create chances there will be many more to come.