Woking XI Held At Cobham
4:30pm, Wed 21st Jul 2010
Cobham 1 Woking XI 1
Pre-Season Friendly
Tuesday 20th July 2010
By James Chadwick
Woking’s game against Cobham F.C was an early opportunity for some of the Academy’s new boys to impress, playing alongside some of the second and third year players. Leg O’ Mutton Field was the venue for the game, and on a dry and bobbled pitch the Woking players were going to have to adapt their game as a result.
From the first whistle Woking looked to attack, with Trialist Ikenna Ofoche looking a threat early on. Yet it wasn’t plain sailing for the Woking XI as the Cards Keeper Matt Pegler had to be on his toes to reach a lofted through ball. However Woking looked more accomplished than their opposition and their dominance on the counter proved testament to this, yet their final ball let them down with misplaced passes and wayward efforts on goal. There was nonetheless, a good service through to lone striker Ollie Palmer but he seemed to lack the confidence in front of goal and will look to use the pre-season to iron out some of the misjudgements that thwarted his game today.
Midfielder Charlie Turnbull (pictured) was at the heart of Woking’s attacking moves and his competent passing made him look an assured player behind the front man and his cross in the 21st minute saw Ofoche hit the crossbar whilst the resulting rebound was picked up well by the Cobham ‘Keeper. Yet despite looking good on the break, Woking were getting caught out at the back and a number of poor misjudgements allowed Cobham a number of attempts on goal. Had it have not been for Woking’s Keeper Matt Pegler, they could have easily found themselves chasing the game, after the 17 year old made some good stops and appeared to be a safe pair of hands in the Woking goal. Just prior to the halftime whistle, Charlie Turnbull played in Ollie Palmer well but his chipped effort landed on the roof of the net.
Half time: Cobham 0 Woking XI 0
During the half time interval the Cards had time to reflect on what went wrong and they came out for the second half playing with a lot more confidence as they started to pass the ball around well. Yet Cobham hadn’t given in yet and with the scores still locked at 0-0 they had every reason not to. They came at Woking and created a number of great goal scoring opportunities and came close to hitting the target, however the visitors defence looked far less shaky in the second half and they managed to resist the majority of Cobham’s ongoing pressure.
Woking continued to create chances though, Jack Blatchford sending a low shot on target into the ‘Keeper’s clutches. After a string of substitutions, the game started to come to life when in the 59th Minute Matt Pegler made a great save from a venomous strike from the Cobham captain, who himself was proving to be a difficult to control. Whilst both teams were continuing to create chances, Cobham were looking the better team in the final third and Pegler had to be at his best to keep the ravenous home side’s forwards at bay.
Yet it was Woking who stole the advantage, after Ikenna Ofoche charged down an attempted clearance from the Cobham goalkeeper, and the ball ricocheted off Ikenna and into the net. This was to be the Trialist’s final contribution to the game after he was substituted immediately after getting his name on the score sheet. The goal did seem to spur on Cobham who started to come at Woking, sending a shot over the crossbar. Their pressure paid dividends though and just minutes later Josh Frost-Niven mistimed a challenge on a Cobham attacker, gifting them a penalty which Dan Reeves fired hard to the keeper’s right, with Pegler unable to reach it despite diving the correct way. Though the penalty did little to knock Pegler’s confidence, and some solid stops showed that he really had the bit between his teeth. At the other end Woking were creating chances as they looked to win the game, Griffith’s low effort the best of a late flurry. But it was not enough as the game petered out into a 1-1 draw.
Full time: Cobham 1 Woking XI 1
MOTM: Charlie Turnbull – He created a number of good chances and looked comfortable on the ball as well as playing a good passing game; he dominated the midfield.
Woking: Pegler, Poleon, Frost-Niven, Richards, Charles, Powell, Blatchford, Topham, Ofoche, Turnbull, Palmer.
Subs: Dixon, Bradley, Mukassa, Griffiths, Coussens.
Rolling subs were used.
