William Bewsey
11:49am, Thu 27th Jul 2023
Havant & Waterlooville v Woking
Pre Season Friendly
29th July 2023
15:00 Kick-Off
Woking will take on another National League South side away from home to round off their pre season campaign when Darren Sarll's side make the trip down the A3 to Westleigh Park.
After a highly encouraging 2-0 victory over League Two side Sutton United on Tuesday night, the Cards have now won two and drawn two of their four pre season games, scoring four and conceding just one. It was more encouraging to see every member of the first team squad apart from Robbie Willmott getting minutes under their belt, including a first appearance for Nana Boateng, signed on loan from Millwall on Monday and getting the assist for the second goal.
With Kidderminster away just a week after this fixture, it provides a last chance to impress the manager and get into that squad, let alone starting eleven, for the trip to Aggborough.
Opposition Watch
Regular promotion contenders in the National League South, Havant & Waterlooville saw huge changes inside the club during last season, as Paul Doswell stepped down as first team manager in March 2023, immediately becoming director of football, before he left that role at the end of the season. Doswell oversaw three seasons with the Hawks, coming second in the curtailed 2019/20 season, before losing in the playoffs to Dartford, then seeing the 2020/21 season written off due to COVID-19, before the 2021/22 season saw the Hawks finish a disappointing 8th.
New manager Jamie Collins couldn't get Havant into the playoffs last season, finishing five points off in 10th place, and the former Sutton defender has recruited well ahead of a new era for the club. The likes of Roarie Deacon, Tom Blair and of course Woking 300 appearance maker Joe McNerney have joined the Hawks, with Collins keen to put his stamp on the team ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Havant have had an interesting pre season, with three wins and two losses. The three wins have all been fairly comfortable victories against lower opposition; 5-1 against Moneyfields, 4-2 against AFC Portchester and 2-0 against Horndean on Tuesday night, whilst the two defeats were a 3-2 loss to Sutton United and a 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth. All six of their pre season games, including Saturday's fixture, have been at Westleigh Park.
Last Time Out
This will be the first meeting between these two sides since March 2012, when two goals from Paris Cowan-Hall and a goal apiece from Giuseppe Sole and Moses Emmanuel saw Woking 4-3 victors at Westleigh Park, as the Cards would go on to win the league title, whilst the Hawks stayed up by just two points.
Around the Ground
Tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for over 65s and under 16s, and can be purchased
here, or on the gate.
Westleigh Park is unique in the fact it has its own namesake pub next door, with the Westleigh open from 11am, along with other food and drink options inside the ground.
Please note, due to train strikes, there are no direct trains from Havant to Woking on Saturday.
