Cards target another win

Woking v Havant and Waterlooville
3pm on Saturday 5 November 2011

Cards fans will be hoping that Guy Fawkes Day brings another fire cracker of a performance from Garry Hill’s side, who have now won seven and drawn one of their last eight league games. They will need to make sure, though, that the returning Ollie Palmer doesn’t steal the show by adding to the seven goals he’s scored for the Hawks since his transfer in late September. Make sure you’re at Kingfield on Saturday to cheer the league leaders on to another victory!

WOKING

Two successive 4-1 wins provide ample evidence that the Cards' strikers are back in the groove – and they seem to be competing with each other to see who can score with the most audacious lob! Hard to pick the best from Elvis’s against Weston-super-Mare or Paris’s and Moses’s at Truro last weekend.

Assuming Dale Binns has now recovered from the injury which sidelined him for the Truro trip, Garry Hill should be able to pick from a full squad. He has options in almost every position – as is evident from seeing the calibre of the Cards’ bench on Saturday, which comprised Andy Little, Joe McNerney, Derek Duncan, Gez Sole and Wayne Gray. And that’s not to mention Ola Sogbanmu and Josh Griffiths, who couldn’t even make the 16.

Aaron Howe and Gez Sole will be looking to outshine Ollie in impressing against their previous club.

HAVANT AND WATERLOOVILLE

The Hawks’ league form is beginning to pick up after a disappointing start to the season. August saw two wins and four defeats, followed by a win, two draws and two defeats in September. October started with a loss at home to Bromley but subsequently there have been home wins over Dorchester Town (4-2) and Farnborough (5-0) and a 3-3 draw at Hampton and Richmond.

The recent upturn must owe a good deal to Ollie Palmer’s goals. His transfer was no doubt viewed with some disappointment by those Woking fans who love to see promising young players make their way through into the first team but he was a long way down the pecking order of Woking strikers, so Havant’s offer was probably attractive to both Ollie and Garry Hill. Garry’s acknowledgment that we have a ‘sell on’ clause gives us added reasons to wish Ollie well other than in games against us.

The Hawks have lost the services of talented winger Wes Fogden following his transfer to Bournemouth but have a number of very useful players, including defender Jon McDonald, whose long throws have caused problems for us in the past and have laid on a couple of goals for Ollie in recent games. Craig Braham-Barrett on the left is a player who impressed for Farnborough last season, while the fleet-footed Sammy Igoe scores and makes goals.

Shaun Gale’s side have been boosted by the signature of striker Scott Jones on a contract, along with those of Ryan Woodford and Steve Ramsey. Former Portsmouth striker Vincent Pericard has also joined the Hawks on a short-term deal.

LAST SEASON

Woking 3 Havant and Waterlooville 1
26 December 2010

The Cards beat the big freeze to get this game on and were rewarded with a convincing win. Reiss Noel made his debut and Joe Keehan made his first league start. Aaron Howe, Gez Sole and Manny Williams lined up for the opposition.

Woking took the lead with a quarter of an hour gone, Elvis Hammond feeding the overlapping Ricky Anane, who unleashed a superb strike from all of 35 yards. Chances came and went for the Cards before, out of the blue, the Hawks equalised with a 30-yard rocket by Mustafa Tiryaki from a free-kick. Woking gained the lead again just before half-time with a bizarre goal. Gez Sole’s attempted clearance hit the referee, with the ball falling kindly to Keehan, who fired home at the far post.

The Cards continued to make most of the running, with Keehan hitting the bar in the 60th minute. Three minutes from time substitute Moses Ademola had a shot cleared off the line but then made the game safe with a fine chip over a stranded Howe.

Havant and Waterlooville 1 Woking 1
1 January 2011

This hard-earned draw stretched Woking’s unbeaten run to twelve games and moved them up to 11th in the table. Graham Baker made two changes from the Boxing Day side, with Moses Ademola and Jerome Maledon coming in for Dave Gilroy and Mark Ricketts.

The Hawks had the best of the first half. Woking’s only real chance came from a great run from ‘man of the match’ Lee Sawyer, who played in Elvis Hammond but the latter’s shot was blocked. The home side took the lead shortly after the break with a virtual replica of their goal at Kingfield. Gez Sole dummied a free-kick and Tiryaki blasted home. The Cards gradually clawed their way back into the game. Hammond had a goal disallowed in the 60th minute before the Cards’ pressure was rewarded with an equaliser in the 72nd minute. Ricky Anane chipped in a cross and Joe Keehan powered a header home.

Gez Sole came close to winning the game for the Hawks but was denied by a great saving tackle from Aswad Thomas.

ADMISSION PRICES

Adults £12
Concessions/Students £8
U16s £2

Don’t forget that, for a trial period, the Club has opened a new bar under the Leslie Gosden Stand.

MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

Saturday’s excellent matchday programme includes a profile of in-form striker Paris Cowan-Hall and, as we approach Remembrance Sunday, Mark Doyle writes about the part played by a distinguished Woking player in the Normandy landings. An interesting and moving story: not to be missed.


Come on, you Cards!

P.S. Don’t forget that two international matches are being played on Sunday at Kingfield in aid of the British Heart Foundation. England’s Under 50 and Under 55 teams take on Wales, beginning at 12 noon. See a previous news item for further details.

Please note too that Woking’s game against Chelmsford City, which was due to be played on Saturday 12 November, has been postponed because the Clarets are in FA Cup action that day. (Later: this game has now been rescheduled for Tuesday 22 November.)