Woking 1-1 Dartford
Written By Declan McCarthy
@Dec11mcc
Woking drew 1-1 to Dartford last night as Giuseppe Sole scored in injury-time to seal a point at Woking’s first home game of the season.
Team News:
Gary hill made two changes going into last night’s game with captain Mark Ricketts coming into the side and so did Mike Cestor and made way was Joey Jones who started on the bench and John Nutter who was not in the team at all.
Dartford made two changes from their 2-1 defeat to Wrexham and it was Max Cornhill and Peter Sweeney who came into their team.
Woking started with a traditional 4-4-2.
First Half
Dartford kicked off the first half and within second’s Woking were in control with the ball at their feet playing fast attacking football and the first chance came with a goal mouth scramble when a Woking corner came into the Dartford box and Joe McNerney seemed to have headed the ball towards goal but goalkeeper Jason Brown saved of the line.
From then on it really was all Woking and a after a few great bits of play from the Woking midfield connecting up well with the strikers (Rendell and Morgan) nearly lead to a goal but Murtagh just shot wide and it really was a great opportunity and on a different night it could have easily been in the back of the net.
From early on the difference of quality was obvious as Woking were playing really good fluent football, with one, two passing in and around the Dartford box with John Goddard playing a pivotal role drifting in-between Morgan and Rendell and essentially giving a 3rd option upfront, while Dartford were resulting in hitting the ball up to striker Tom Bradbrook and hoping that the Woking’s defence would slip up.
Dartford’s first real chance in that game came from a cross by Adam Green to Max Cornhill, only to have his shot blocked by Mike Cestor, but they nearly broke through after a mistake by Right back Adam Newton who headed the ball past Ricketts letting T.Bradbrook through on goal but Aaron Howe stood strong and saved well.
Second Half
Both side’s came out unchanged and from an early Dartford corner in the opening 5 minutes of the second half, they scored through Rory McAuley in the 48th minute, who headed the ball into the back of the net, quickly however things changed as Woking went straight on the attack from the restart and immediately tried to put pressure back on the Dartford team.
We were entering the 70th minute mark, 1-0 down and at this point the game really did turn ugly, Dartford were physical and so too were Woking, but the chances failed to occur for Woking.
Dartford had more possession at stages in the 2nd half but just like the first half they really didn’t do much apart from play the long ball and make big tackles and Woking’s defence done well, in-particular Joe Mcnerney who looked sharp and ready for anything thrown at him including a big challenge or two.
Hill made two changes bringing on Jones for Murtagh and Sole came on for Theo Lewis changing the team’s formation to a 4-3-3. Jones had an early impact on the game spreading the ball and also had an ambitious shot from 20 yards out and done well to create the space around him but failed to be clinical and so the shot went well wide.
At this stage of the game Woking seemed frustrated and constant fouls were being given away, but their constant pressure paid off as substitution Giuseppe Sole scored from a header in injury time after Morgan done well on the left hand side of the pitch, crossed well and found Sole in a good area to just head the ball into the top left hand corner.
As Woking found themselves back in the game, the staff on the side of the pitch were urging the team to press higher up the pitch and so they did, with seconds to go Josh Payne crossed beautifully for Joey Jones who headed the ball and alluded the Woking crowd by hitting the side net. The referee blew his whistle, confirming both teams would take away a point.
Full-Time
Overall it was a disappointing result for Woking who had hoped for the full three points but it really just simply was “Wasn’t our night” and on another night it could have easily been 2 or 3 nil up at half time. The game however ended on a high note as fans favourite Giuseppe Sole opened his account for the year by scoring his first goal this season and earned what could turn out to be a crucial point, come the end of the season.
Attendance: 1538
This Saturday Woking take on Macclesfield and we will have coverage of the game on Radio Woking’s very own sports show “Saturday Sport’s” be sure to tune in as coverage starts at 2pm.
Woking : Aaron Howe, Adam Newton (Reece Beckles 82), Mike Cestor, Mark Ricketts (Captain), Joe McNerney, Josh Payne, Keiran Murtagh (Joey Jones 75), Scott Rendell, Theo Lewis (Giuseppe Sole 76), John Goddard, Dean Morgan
Unused Subs: James Clarke, Jake Cole
Bookings: Theo Lewis (62), Josh Payne (66)
Goal: Giuseppe Sole (90+3)
Dartford: Jason Brown, Mat Mitchel-King, Adam Green, Luke Daley, Max Cornhill, Rory McAuley, Elliot Bradbrook (Captain), Tom Bradbrook, Andy Rich, Lee Burns (Nathan Collier 76), Peter Sweeney
Unused Subs: Ryan Hayes, Danny Harris, Harry Crawford, Deren Ibrahim
Bookings: Lee Burns (73)
Goal: Rory McAuley (48)
Sponsors MOTM: Mark Ricketts