Glen Harrington
5:35pm, Sat 24th Dec 2022
Aldershot Town vs Woking
Vanarama National League
Monday 26th December 2022
Woking and Aldershot Town will renew their rivalry on Monday as the pair go head-to-head in a Boxing Day fixture in the National League. It will be Woking manager Darren Sarll’s first meeting with the Shots since becoming the Cards’ boss in March.
The Cards come into the game following back-to-back defeats for the first time since August and with just one win in five in all competitions – although they have never gone more than two games in a row without winning so far this season. Their latest defeat came on Tuesday evening in the FA Trophy when they were beaten 2-0 at home by Eastleigh. Sarll has since admitted that a bout of illness disrupted his squad’s preparations, with the likes of Josh Casey, Scott Cuthbert, Joe McNerney, Jermaine Anderson, and James Daly among those known to be suffering.
Those that have been struggling with illness are all expected to be fully recovered in time for Monday’s game, meaning that long-term injury absentee Luke Wilkinson, along with Reece Grego-Cox and Ricky Korboa, are the only likely absentees. It means Sarll could revert to 4-3-3 with Anderson joining Rohan Ince and Jim Kellermann in midfield, or 4-4-2, with Daly and Kyran Lofthouse on the flanks.
Opposition Watch
Aldershot are in their tenth straight season in the National League and are looking to improve on four consecutive bottom half finishes. Last season they finished in 20th position, albeit a comfortable nine points clear of the relegation places. This looked set to be another challenging campaign for the Shots who took just 11 points from their first 13 league games and were knocked out of the FA Cup in qualifying by National League South side Chelmsford City.
That run of results led to the departure of manager Mark Molesley after 13 months in charge and has led to a significant upturn in results – 15 points from eight games and advancement in the FA Trophy under first interim, now new permanent, manager Ross McNeilly. Wins have come over York, Yeovil, Dorking, Southend, and Gateshead, conceding just one goal in the process, lifting the Shots to 18th in the league table, six points clear of the bottom four and seven adrift of the play-off places.
The Shots signed a large cohort of new players in the summer, including former Woking striker Inih Effiong, who has scored six league goals this season and will no doubt be looking to come back to haunt his former employers over Christmas. Their top scorer is former Scottish Premiership winger Justin Amaluzor who came from Motherwell. Other notable additions were ex-Weymouth defender Tyler Cordner and experienced midfielder Joe Partington from Bromley.
Recent Meetings
• Woking
2-3 Aldershot Town – 2nd January 2022, National League (Kretzschmar 2)
• Aldershot Town
1-1 Woking – 26th December 2021, National League (Kretzschmar)
• Woking
0-1 Aldershot Town – 2nd January 2021, National League
• Aldershot Town
3-0 Woking – 26th December 2020, National League
• Aldershot Town
1-2 Woking – 24th October 2020, Emirates FA Cup (Davison, Kretzschmar)
Tickets
Tickets are priced at £20 for adults, £16 Concessions, £7 Under 17s, and Under 11s FREE. For more information and to book your ticket please
click here.
