Gilroy brace gives Cards first points
Dorchester Town 1 Woking 2
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 21st August 2010
After a horrible start to the season including two consecutive defeats on-the-field and the departure of Chairman Shahid Azeem off it, the Cards finally got some points on the board thanks to a Dave Gilroy brace at the Avenue Stadium. They were well worth the three points with a hard fought and battling performance although the home side will feel a little aggrieved not to have got something from the match, especially after Gilroy netted the winner in the last minute. Graham Baker made four changes bringing in new signing Adam Doyle in defence, Daryn Hennessy in midfield and starting Andy Forbes and Gilroy up front in a 4-4-2 formation with Joe McNerney, Jerome Maledon, Toby Little and Craig Faulconbridge the players missing out.
Preparation was not ideal for the Cards, the team coach stuck in holiday traffic on the way down meaning they didn’t arrive till quarter to three and when the match kicked off over half an hour later, it was the home side that looked the brighter. Right back Ryan Hill saw his early free kick crash against the top of the crossbar and Mark Jermyn tested Lenny Pidgeley from just outside the area while dangerous left winger Sean Devlin caused all sorts of problems down the Woking right, especially after Mark Ricketts had to revert to right back after Ricky Anane went off injured after just thirteen minutes.
Finally, the Cards managed to settle into the match and Moses Ademola’s cross fell to Alan Inns in the area only for him to strike just over the bar. In the 35th minute, Woking managed to go ahead. The impressive substitute Jerome Maledon breaking forward from midfield and playing a neat one-two with Ademola before knocking the ball back to Ricketts who put a swirling cross into the area. Gilroy judged the flight of the ball perfectly and left two Dorchester defenders motionless as he calmly took the ball down on his chest before side footing the ball past Simon Evans and into the back of the net. The home side fought back well before the break but the Cards defence managed to stay strong and keep hold of their 1-0 lead with the wind against them.
Half-Time: Dorchester Town 0-1 Woking
Fans hoping that the Cards would kick on in the second half were to be disappointed though with the Dorchester having a lot of possession and a number of half chances but they only really looked like scoring from a Hill free kick. And in the 63rd minute, that was exactly what happened, as Hill smashed in a thunderbolt after Hennessy had taken out the tricky Devlin. Firing the ball up, over and around a rather unconvincing Woking wall the ball flew past Pidgeley and into the top corner to bring the home side right back into the match.
Hill went close again, after Devlin had won another free kick, this time on the right side up against Doyle. This time his low effort was parried away by Pidgeley and Nathan Walker headed the rebound wide, under pressure from Doyle. The Cards then survived furious claims for a penalty when Ryan Moss’s flick cannoned off Doyle’s arm in the area, though there was little the defender could have done to get his arm out the way of it. As time went on the match looked destined to end 1-1 with the home side forced to pot shots from outside the area but neither Devlin nor Moss worried Pidgeley with their efforts. At the other end, Gilroy latched onto to a Maledon header and escaped the defence but his attempted finish was well stopped by Evans.
However, the Cards snatched victory in the last minute with a neat, route one goal. Pidgeley’s goal kick was flicked on by substitute Faulconbridge and into the path of another substitute, Little, who gleefully squared the ball into the path of Gilroy who made no mistake, clipping the ball past Evans and into the net much to his and Woking fans delight. Woking set about holding on and did so without any real scares although Faulconbridge did pick up a booking after he was pushed over by Walker, an incident which sparked a bit of a melee.
It’s still clear Woking aren’t firing on all cylinders at the moment, Alan Inns said as much on BBC Surrey after the match, but hopefully this win will spark some better performances in some winnable matches coming up, starting with Lewes at Kingfield on Tuesday.
MOTM: Jerome Maledon – a few candidates, obviously Gilroy being one of them, but the midfielder put in an excellent, energetic performance in midfield after coming on as a substitute.
Woking: Lenny Pidgeley, Ricky Anane (Jerome Maledon, 13), Aswad Thomas, Mark Ricketts, Alan Inns, Adam Doyle, Moses Ademola, Daryn Hennessy, Andy Forbes (Craig Faulconbridge, 75), Dave Gilroy, Sam Hurrell (Toby Little, 69)
Unused subs: Francis Quarm, Ola Sogbanmu
Booked: Daryn Hennessy, Craig Faulconbridge
Attendance: 547
