Cards need to make home advantage pay
Brian Caffarey
3:51pm, Mon 12th Mar 2012
Woking v Dorchester Town
7.45pm on Tuesday 13 March 2012
Has the win at Havant and Waterlooville on Saturday arrested the Cards’ recent slide? Let’s hope so since both Dartford and Welling United are continuing to breathe down our necks! On Tuesday night the Magpies – still with hopes of making the play-offs – will provide a quick test of Woking’s resolve. Come down to Kingfield to cheer the Cards on in this crucial game!
WOKING
Woking played some excellent football on Saturday and deserved to come away with all three points. But while the forwards found their range – and could have doubled their goal tally – the defence still showed its vulnerability, conceding goals early in each half and then contributing to a horribly nervous last quarter of an hour as the side clung on to a 4-3 lead.
Jack King will be serving the second game of his three-match suspension on Tuesday evening. His place will no doubt be taken again by Tom Davis, who performed very capably in the first game of his one-month loan from Carshalton Athletic. Tom is no stranger to this sort of pressure, having won this league three times, with St Albans City, AFC Wimbledon and Lewes.
Mike Cestor’s loan spell has ended: he was recalled by Leyton Orient before Saturday’s game. But Dale Binns will be available still: his three-match ban doesn’t start till the Welling game.
Cards fans will also be keeping an ear open on Tuesday night for news of Dartford’s game at Maidenhead United.
DORCHESTER TOWN
The Magpies sit in 8th place in the table with 46 points from 32 games. They are 12 points adrift of Chelmsford City in 5th place but with a game in hand. They know, therefore, that they need to go on an extensive winning run to have any chance of grabbing a play-off place.
The Magpies have been in good form, having lost only two of their last 17 league games – and both of those defeats came at home: 0-3 to Salisbury City on Boxing Day and 3-6 to Havant and Waterlooville on 25 February. Tuesday night’s game will be the third in a sequence of four successive away games, which has so far seen them win 4-0 at Weston-super-Mare and, on Saturday, draw 2-2 at Boreham Wood. Other impressive away performances include a 4-1 win at Eastbourne Borough, a 1-0 win at Salisbury City and a 1-1 draw at Dartford.
Alan Knight, the former Portsmouth legend, was appointed the Magpies’ manager in early December. Transfer activity since then has included the lucrative sale of 18 year-old striker Ben Dickenson to Brighton and Hove Albion, Steve Devlin’s move to Poole Town and the arrival of Sam Malsom from Weymouth. Replacing Dickenson up front has been 19 year-old Tom Nichols, on loan from Exeter City, who has scored seven goals in the Magpies’ last six games.
The Magpies should provide a stern test, especially in midfield where they have some very experienced players in the shape of club captain Mark Jermyn (over 500 appearances) and Jamie Gleeson (over 200), both playing alongside Nick Crittenden.
ADMISSION PRICES
Adults £12
Concessions/Students £8
U16s £2
MATCHDAY PROGRAMME
The original game was called off after the matchday programme had been printed. In the interests of economy that programme will be sold on Tuesday evening – but at the bargain price of £1.50, with an insert which includes an updated piece by Garry Hill. In the programme itself David Holmes lifts the veil on being Club Photographer: it isn’t all about taking action shots, he says! Another feature is an interesting profile of Keiran Murtagh.
LAST TIME OUT
Dorchester Town 0 Woking 1
24 September 2011
Woking’s fourth victory on the trot was a dour affair but it was the kind of win you need to be able to grind out on occasions if you have realistic promotion aspirations.
The home side started slightly more brightly, with Moss missing possibly their best chance of the game in the 8th minute when he scooped over the bar. Devlin subsequently tried a quick, clever 60-yard lob from a free-kick which had Aaron Howe scrambling. Woking didn’t get a shot on target till the 39th minute when Paris Cowan-Hall let fly.
The Cards gradually got on top in the second half, with the breakthrough coming from in-form Moses Ademola, notching his seventh goal of the season as he shot powerfully from the edge of the box from a Derek Duncan pass. Ademola was later to hit the post as the Cards proceeded fairly comfortably to garner three more vital points.
Come on, you Cards!
P.S. Don’t forget that the Cards are at home again on Saturday to Welling United, who have been in very fine form recently and who still have a chance of catching Woking. This could be one of the key games of the season, so make sure you are there!
