MKJ Group
SSC (SF)
7:45pm - TuesdayTue 15th MarchMar 2016
The Laithwaite Community Stadium | Att: 229

Woking
Woking
1 - 3

Merstham
Merstham

Cards target cup final

Brian Caffarey
4:41pm, Sun 13th Mar 2016
Woking v Merstham
Surrey Senior Cup Semi-Final
7.45pm on Tuesday 15 March 2016

On Tuesday evening Garry Hill’s side will hope to set aside their recent poor form in the league and reach the final of the Surrey Senior Cup. With no fixture next Saturday, and the side struggling for confidence, Garry can be expected to field a strong side. Come down to the Laithwaite Community Stadium to cheer on the Cards!

WOKING

The Cards’ 4-0 defeat at league leaders at Cheltenham Town, their sixth straight league loss, was made even harder to take by the fact that Dan Holman scored all four goals against his former club. Woking were well in the game for the first half hour or so but two quick goals before half-time finished the side’s chances of getting anything out of the game and, as so often recently, the scoreline would have been much worse had it not been for some inspired goalkeeping from Jake Cole.

Saturday’s match saw the return of Bruno Andrade but he went off with an injured foot in the second half. Keiran Murtagh will be available for selection, having served out his one-match suspension for his two yellow cards at Eastleigh.

The Cards have reached this stage of the competition as follows:

Woking 10 Sutton Common Rovers 0
Westfield 1 Woking 4 (played at the Laithwaite Community Stadium)
Molesey 1 Woking 3

The other semi-final is between Sutton United and Godalming Town. The winners of the competition receive £2,000 in prize money, with £1,000 going to the runners-up. Losing semi-finalists receive £500.

Woking have won the competition on 12 occasions, most recently in 2013-14 when they beat Metropolitan Police, current holders, 6-0 in the final.

MERSTHAM

Merstham, last season’s losing finalists, sit 14th in the Ryman Premier League with 49 points from 39 games. They were promoted last season from the Ryman League Division One South through the play-offs, having been promoted from the Combined Counties League at the end of the 2007-08 season.

On Saturday they lost 1-0 away to struggling Needham Market.

Their progress to this stage of the competition has been as follows:

Merstham 3 South Park 0
Badshot Lea 1 Merstham 5
Leatherhead 0 Merstham 4

The Moatsiders have won the competition once, in 2007-08, when they beat Whyteleafe 3-2 after extra time.

They are managed by Hayden Bird and their best-known player is former Bromley stalwart Tutu Henriques, who also coaches the side.

NEXT UP

The Cards don’t have a fixture next Saturday, their home game against Grimsby Town having been postponed to Tuesday 19 April. Their next game is on Saturday 26 March when they are at home to Kidderminster Harriers.


Come on, you Cards!


Cards' poor form continues

Alan Barnes
10:21am, Wed 16th Mar 2016
Woking 1 Merstham 3
Surrey Senior Cup Semi-Final
March 15th 2016

With Holman mania hopefully now starting to recede, this match gave the Cards the chance to reach the final of the county cup for the twenty-eighth time, having previously won twelve of them. Woking's first entry in the competition was in season 1897/98, the first win being in 1913 when there were 5,000 in attendance, the Cards triumphing 2-0 against Metrogas.

Garry Hill, the longest serving manager in the National League, was hoping for a positive end to the season in cup competitions following the disappointment of the team's recent exit in the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy at Grimsby.

Merstham, currently sitting in fourteenth place in the Ryman Premier League, presented the home side with their toughest test to date in the competition.

To the disappointment of the sparse crowd, Woking never really got going for much of the match; the visitors defended well and were ably backed up by Josh Smith in goal. The slow tempo of the game helped Merstham get men behind the ball when not in possession. When they did have the ball, they broke quickly and in numbers and were a threat to the Woking defence all night.

The breakthrough for the visitors came midway through the half. Saraiva found himself in acres of space on the edge of the box and his firm shot low across Nick Hamann nestled in the right hand corner of the net.

The best chance for Woking came from a corner, which was headed over by Brian Saah, who was restored to the team following his recent hamstring injury.

Half-time: Woking 0 Merstham 1

The second period started with the visitors again looking more comfortable.

Woking, needing to start on the front foot, were caught on the break down the right. The ball was pulled back for Penny to hit the ball into the roof of the net from inside the penalty area to extend Merstham's lead.

The Cards were then given a lifeline. Keiran Murtagh, back in the side following suspension, got behind the defence before being brought down by Henriques who, being the last defender, was shown a straight red card. Goddard duly dispatched the penalty to set up an interesting final twenty-five minutes.

Woking then had their best spell of the match but without managing to cause the packed visitors' defence too much trouble as they dug in in search of a famous victory, which was confirmed when Willock cut inside two defenders to finish low into the left corner to complete a miserable night for the home side.

There is no doubt that Garry Hill would have been looking for and expecting a victory to boost the sagging morale of his team. Aside from Surrey Senior Cup and FA Trophy ties, the last league triumph was way back on January 9th at Wrexham.

With no game this coming Saturday, there will be plenty of time for soul-searching amongst players and management before the team take on bottom club Kidderminster Harriers at the Laithwaite Community Stadium on March 26th. On the plus side, Garry Hill's 'safety target' of fifty points is just one point away with eight games of the season remaining.


WOKING: Nick Hamann, Jake Caprice, Brian Saah (Chris Arthur 70) Joey Jones (Bruno Andrade 70), Keiran Murtagh, Giuseppe Sole, John Goddard, Matt Robinson, Joe Quigley (Godfrey Poku 80) Alex Smith, Cameron Norman

Subs not used: Jake Cole, Mark Ricketts

Booked: Cameron Norman

Attendance: 229
WOKING LINEUP
18Nick Hamann
2Jake Caprice
26Cameron Norman
5Brian Saah ('70)
7Joey Jones ('70)
8Keiran Murtagh
14Matt Robinson
20Alex Smith
11John Goddard
10Giuseppe Sole
19Joe Quigley ('80)
BENCH
1Jake Cole
3Chris Arthur ('70)
4Mark Ricketts
12Godfrey Poku ('80)
15Bruno Andrade ('70)
Merstham LINEUP

Shop Online

adidas 1/4 Zip Training Top

adidas 1/4 Zip Training Top

BUY NOW »
adidas 2023/24 Away Shirt

adidas 2023/24 Away Shirt

BUY NOW »
adidas 2023/24 Home Shirt

adidas 2023/24 Home Shirt

BUY NOW »
adidas Laithwaite Financial Services Boz's Fruit and Veg Jewson MKJ Peacock Construction Seymours The National League Vanarama

Woking Football Club Limited
A company incorporated in England and Wales (company number: ‍03329172)
Registered office The Laithwaite Community Stadium, Kingfield, Woking, Surrey, GU22 9AA

Click here to read our Data Protection Privacy Policy
Click here to read our Accessibility Statement