Glen Harrington
4:29pm, Fri 22nd Apr 2022
Woking vs Wrexham
Vanarama National League
Saturday 23rd April 2022
The Cards will look to play spoilers on Saturday as they host automatic promotion chasers Wrexham at the Laithwaite Community Stadium, in a game which will be played live on BT Sport.
Wrexham are seven points behind Stockport County at the top of the National League table and know that they’ll likely have to win all six of their remaining games, and hope that other results go their way if they are to overturn that deficit in the final weeks of the season. And whilst the Cards have comparatively little to play for, the prospect of upsetting one of the division’s most in form sides, in front of the cameras, should be more than enough motivation for Darren Sarll’s side, who themselves come into the game off the back of an impressive 4-1 win at lowly Dover Athletic.
Nicke Kabamba scored a brace and David Longe-King scored his first Woking goal as the Cards dispatched the already relegated Whites last Saturday, whilst a Dover own goal helped the away side score four in a game for the first time since early October. It was a Woking team showing six changes from the side which narrowly lost out at home to Torquay two days earlier, with starts also for Mark Smith, Moussa Diarra, Rohan Ince, Jack Roles, and Jamar Loza. It will be interesting, therefore, to see how Sarll approaches Saturday’s game, with the likes of Roles and Loza pushing to retain their place in the side.
Opposition Watch
Wrexham, bankrolled by American duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, have enjoyed an excellent second-half of the season. They’ve won eight and drawn two of their last 10 league games, whilst also progressing to the final of the FA Trophy, where they will play Bromley next month. Their last loss in any competition came against Torquay United – a 1-0 away defeat at the start of February. Since then they are unbeaten in 15 games and have scored 44 goals.
Whilst their form in the first-half of the season was far from poor, they were 13th at the end of October, and were only in seventh as recently as mid-February, so the fact that they now have a 13-point cushion on eighth place shows the extent to which they have improved. Recent results have seen them defeat Altrincham (4-0), draw with Solihull Moors (1-1), and beat both Eastleigh (3-2) and Barnet (6-0). They have also made something of a habit of late goals – with a quarter of their 44 strikes since February coming in the 85th minute or later.
Manager Phil Parkinson’s cause has been aided by the arrival of several high-profile signings, none more so than former Woking academy player Ollie Palmer, who joined from League One side AFC Wimbledon. Palmer has scored 11 goals in 15 league games thus far, forming a deadly partnership with top scorer Paul Mullin (22 in 32). Another former Woking striker, Jake Hyde, is also on the Wrexham books, but hasn’t played since December due to a calf injury.
Recent Meetings
• Wrexham
1-0 Woking – 11th September 2021, National League
• Woking
0-4 Wrexham – 17th April 2021, National League
• Wrexham
2-0 Woking – 16th February 2021, National League
• Wrexham
3-0 Woking – 18th January 2020, National League
• Woking
1-1 Wrexham – 5th October 2019, National League (Ferdinand)
On the Day
Ticket prices are £20 for Adults, Concessions £15, Students and Next Generation £12 and £7 for 16-year-olds and under –
click here for more information and to book your tickets online.
This match will be segregated, with Wrexham fans being allocated the Chris Lane Terrace and some seats in the Seymours Community LGS.
