Woking Portsmouth
Pre Season Friendly
15th July 2025

Neal Ardley’s Cards lineup saw Jaaskaleinen in goal, a backline of Hinds, Akinola, Okoli and Richards, a midfield of Turner, Andrews and captain Beautyman and a front three of Ward, O’Brien and Effiong. John Mousinho took a strong Portsmouth side to the Laithwaite for their first pre season runout.

It was Portsmouth in their classic blue who kicked off the opening fixture at the Laithwaite for the 25/26 season.

An early long ball saw Thomas Waddingham flick the ball into the back of the net but the linesman was quick to raise his flag for offside. In the minutes following, Terry Devlin picked up a misplaced pass from the Woking defence and fired a driven shot towards goal which sailed just over.

After some tricky footwork from dangerman Josh Murphy the ball bounced into the path of Connor Ogilvie who controlled the ball into space and launched a fierce half volley goalwards which Jaaskelainen could only parry away.

In the 13th minute, some slick play through the middle saw Pompey turn quickly from defence to attack through a clever flick from Waddingham who fed Adrian Segečić in behind. He made no mistake and slotted the ball past an outstretched Jaaskelainen.

A much needed early stoppage came for the Cards after a strong tackle from Jaaskelainen saw both Osifo and himself requiring treatment with the Finn needing to be replaced by returning fan favourite Craig Ross. Following the restart Pompey continued to press with Segečić consistently finding himself in space, just after the half hour mark he tested Ross with a curling effort destined for the top left hand corner but the Woking keeper denied Portsmouth a second with a fantastic diving save.

The game settled down with Pompey controlling possession, Woking looked to catch the Championship side on the counter through outlet Inih Effiong who found himself frustrated after consistently being hauled down. A half chance fell to Aiden O’Brien but he failed to direct his tame volley goalwards.

Half Time: Woking 0-1 Portsmouth

Within 30 seconds of the half time restart, Portsmouth substitute Paddy Lane found himself in behind and his sharp effort from a tight angle clattered the bottom left hand post giving the Cards an early scare. The visitors consistently threatened the Cards along both wings and continued to do so, sending a number of crosses into the Cards box.

Following the changes made to every outfield player in grey, the Cards began to look brighter and almost snatched an equaliser when Luke Hall cut in beautifully off the far side and unleashed a curling effort towards the near post which sailed narrowly wide.

A wonderful pass from the Portsmouth backline saw the Woking defence completely split with Paddy Lane one on one with Craig Ross, the Portsmouth marksman made no mistake and slotted a powerful finish into the near post past a helpless Ross.

With quarter of an hour to go, the Cards began to hold more presence within the game utilising the pace and tricks of Josh Osude to threaten the visitors more. A loose pass from the Woking backline was intercepted by the Portsmouth striker who played a perfectly weighted pass into Paddy Lane. He once again found himself 1-on-1 with Ross but the attempted chip was poor and the Woking ‘keeper collected.

Shortly after, Ross found himself busy again as he parried a whipped shot from the dangerous Paddy Lane off to safety. In the final minutes the game began to slow with Portsmouth controlling the possession despite a strong Cards press.

The referee brought an end to the affair with Portsmouth leaving the Laithwaite as convincing winners however, the Woking players will have learnt a lot from a clash against high level opposition while building fitness ahead of the upcoming season. Neal Ardley and his players will now look forward to another pre-season clash away against Cray Valley on Saturday.

First Half: Jaaskelainen (Ross 24’), Hinds, Akinola, Okoli, Richards, Turner, Andrews, Beautyman, Ward, O’Brien, Effiong

60th minute: Ross, Drewe, Odusina, Okoli, Parkes, Ashford, Osude, Hall, Trialist A, Trialist B, Trialist C