Glen Harrington
9:17am, Sat 14th Nov 2020
Woking vs Yeovil
Vanarama National League
Saturday 14th November 2020
After four consecutive away matches, Woking return to the Laithwaite Community Stadium today, aiming to put an end to a run of three straight defeats in all competitions and claim their first league victory since the win over Dagenham & Redbridge more than a month ago.
It’s been a tough fortnight for manager Alan Dowson who has twice seen his side surrender a second-half lead in 3-2 defeats against King’s Lynn Town and Gillingham. Whilst the performance in Norfolk will be one the Cards will be keen to forget, they deserve plenty of plaudits for their efforts against League One opposition last time out. The team was excellent for an hour, taking a deserved two goal lead through Max Kretzschmar and the in form Josh Davison, but they were undone in the final half hours as the Gills belatedly went through the gears and showed their quality. With our brief, but definitely exciting FA Cup run over, the Cards will turn their attention back to the National League, where after taking nine points from the first four matches, they’ve now managed just one from the last three. Dowse will hope he can get back to winning ways this afternoon.
Yeovil have endured a difficult start to the season and last year’s play-off quarter-finalists find themselves surprisingly propping up the league table – the only team in the division yet to win a league game. Despite their rotten record, the Glovers have been far from pushovers this season, drawing four of their seven matches, with their three defeats all coming by just a one goal margin. They have lost their last two however, going down 2-1 at home to Sutton United, and 1-0 at home to Chesterfield. Interestingly, all of their defeats this season have come at home. They have also done well to progress in the FA Cup, beating Dover Athletic on penalties in the fourth qualifying round, before winning 1-0 after extra time against Bromley last weekend.
Woking – Team News
Malachi Napa remains sidelined whilst Dowse will be sweating on the fitness of a number of other key players who missed the Gillingham game through injury. Matt Jarvis, Tommy Block, and John Goddard could all miss out again. But defender Ben Gerring is fit to return, after recovering from the injury he picked up in pre-season, and the centre-back could be called straight into action after the Cards’ previously watertight defence conceded six goals in the last two games. But the biggest selection decision might be out wide, with so many players missing, and the likes of Kyran Lofthouse or the returning Joe Leslie could be eyeing a starting spot.
Yeovil Town – The Boss
Darren Sarll has been Yeovil manager since June 2019, taking over at the club following their relegation from the Football League, and guiding them to a fourth place finish last season. He was previously in charge at Stevenage, where he held the top job for just over two years, working alongside Glenn Roeder. He was previously a player at non-league level, playing for the likes of St Albans, Chelmsford, and Hemel Hempstead, before moving into coaching.
One to Watch
There are a couple of players in the Yeovil squad that Woking fans will be familiar with, including defender Josh Staunton and former loan striker Joe Quigley, but one to watch is striker Rhys Murphy. An experienced player, who has also enjoyed time in the Football League, he was one of the standout players in the Cards’ most recent National League South season where he scored 28 times in all competitions for Chelmsford City. He continued that form last season, netting 20 times in the shortened campaign, including 17 in the National League.
Last Time Out
Woking 1-0 Yeovil Town – National League (25th January 2020)
The Cards pulled off a surprise win at the Laithwaite Community Stadium thanks to Shaun Donnellan’s superb first-half winner. The home side came into the game off the back of a miserable Christmas period, having won just one of their last five leagues matches and been knocked out of the FA Trophy by minnows Kingstonian, whilst Yeovil were still in the promotion hunt, but it was Woking who came away with all three points. The Glovers won the previous encounter earlier in the season 3-1, although Woking fans will remember Ibrahim Meite’s stunning consolation goal.
Next Up
The Cards travel to Dover Athletic on Tuesday evening before they’re back at home next weekend, when Barnet will be the visitors to the Laithwaite Community Stadium.
in association with LV BET
