Woking 1 North Ferriby United 1
Vanarama National League
12th November 2016

With BT Sport down at the Laithwaite Community stadium for this game it was set to be a cracker; in the end, the result possibly felt like a defeat for the visitors and a win for the home side but it ended all square.

The game started with the ball mainly being played in the midfield but the first bit of action came for the cards and it was Jake Caprice who tested the defence forst; the ex-Blackpool defender sprinted down the Right wing, and cut a low ball into the box which Delano Sam-Yorke tried to head home only for Brown to head away from danger (4th minute.

4 minutes later and it was Woking again with the chance. Former Merstham midfielder Fabio Sairava tried to curl a ball from distance; his curled shot failed to hit the target and ended up going wide of Watson’s Goal post.

An early substitution followed in the 18th for North Ferriby, as Simon Russell was forced off with an injury; Danny Emerton replaced him.

The first real chance for North Ferriby came on the 28th minute. Ryan Fallowfield tried to shoot from within the box after great inter-play; the North Ferriby striker’s shot was blocked by Woking’s No.5 Brian Saah.

The cards could then have taken the lead in the 34th minute as Gozie Ugwu did well to use his strength against the North Ferriby defence. The Cards’ top scorer tried to slot a ball into Sairava and succeeded, but unfortunately Fabio failed to deliver as his shot was blocked by the experienced North Ferriby side; the ball was cleared out to Keiran Murtagh who also tried a shot from range; his shot again was also blocked. The ball was in the air when Sairava tried to latch onto it for a volley, but this was comfortably saved by Watson.

Woking failed to deliver on many occasions. That man Sairava crossed in another great ball from a free kick, Sam-Yorke rose like a salmon only for the player’s header to go just wide again (36th minute)

Probably the best piece of play came 6 minutes before half time. Joey Jones chipped a long ball to the tall Ugwu, who did brilliantly to control the ball. He flicked it over Topliss; the striker ran towards goal in acres of space, and tried to play Saraiva in, but the latter’s shot went just wide for the 2nd time.

Rory Watson’s teammates must have been relieved when the goalkeeper made a save of the season contender. Delano Sam-Yorke had won the ball in a great position, and ran towards the keeper in a 1-to-1 position; he did well and unleashed a great shot but Watson somehow parried the ball away with one hand (42nd minute).

Another chance for North Ferriby came on the stroke of half time. Saah did well to tackle Thompson on the edge of the box; the ball took a deflection off Saah and somehow the deflection turned into a shot which forced England C goalkeeper Brandon Hall into another good diving save.

There was a minimum of 2 minutes of additional time to be played before half time. Murtagh brought down Brogan 20 yards outside the box; Woking were relieved to see Kieran not being penalised, but their relief was short-lived as Steven Brogan stepped up to convert the free kick from a very central position.

Half time: Woking 0 North Ferriby United 1

For North Ferriby, Curtis Bateson came on for Jake Skelton at the start of the half.

Ugwu again found himself in another great position, Gozie had a great run along the wing, he then decided to cut in from the right and unleashed a powerful shot which Watson did brilliantly to parry away for a corner (47th minute).

As my colleagues in the press box agreed, it just didn’t look like it was going to be Woking’s day. In the 49th minute, Murtagh collected the ball from the halfway line and ran through the middle before shooting from distance; the ball rattled off the post and was cleared away from danger.

4 minutes later, Delano Sam-Yorke tried another shot from distance which embarrassingly went far wide of Watson’s goal line.

In the 53rd minute, Caprice again tried using his pace and succeeded in crossing a low ball into Woking academy graduate, Charlie Carter; the youngster hit the ball first time but – for the second time - the ball hit the crossbar and was then cleared out of danger.

19 minutes into the second half and Sam-Yorke tried a shot just from inside the box; Watson again parried away with an incredible dive after classy skill by Delano.

Cards boss Garry Hill made 3 substitutions. Luke Kandi and Anthony Edgar replaced Carter and Jefford in the 65th minute, and Max Kretzschmar came on Caprice 3 minutes later.

Sam-Yorke once again got into a great position in the 66th minute; he crossed a dangerous ball into Max Kretzschmar and the ex-Wycombe player could have equalised but somehow the ball was hit wide of the opposition’s goal.

One of very last few chances of the game came with 10 minutes remaining when Sairava crossed in a high ball, Delano tried to head home but the ball was intercepted. Ugwu then collected inside the box but his shot was blocked; former West Ham youth Edgar tried a volley but sliced the ball well wide as the ball rolled out for a goal kick.

1 minute before the 90 minutes were up, Ugwu controlled the ball inside the box; the tall striker tried a dangerous shot but - just as the home fans stood up to cheer - Steven Brogan got between the ball and the goal.

4 minutes of time were added on. The spirit of Woking FC came alive. Luke Kandi received the ball from Jones; the former Brighton and Bognor Regis player moved skilfully past one defender, shoved off another and - just outside the box - looked up and blasted a shot into the corner of the goal to equalise with 1 minute and 30 seconds remaining.

Was there to be a very, very late upset by the visitors? Thankfully not, as Wootton came sprinting forward with Fallowfield; it was 2-on-2. Wootton tried a low shot which Saah blocked close to goal; the ball rolled just wide of Hall’s goal for the final whistle to blow.

Woking: Brandon Hall, Brian Saah, Ismail Yakubu, Jake Caprice (Max Kretzschmar), Ben Jefford (Anthony Edgar 65), Joey Jones, Keiran Murtagh, Gozie Ugwu, Delano Sam-Yorke, Charlie Carter (Luke Kandi 68), Fabio Saraiva.

Bookings: None

Unused subs: Terell Thomas, Frankie Sutherland

North Ferriby Line-up: Rory Watson, Sam Topliss, Steven Brogan, Taron Hare, Ben Middleton, Jake Skelton (Curtis Bateson 46), Danny Clarke, Simon Russell (Danny Emerton 18), Kyle Wootton, Reece Thompson, Ryan Fallowfield.

Bookings: Jake Skelton

Unused Subs: Mark Gray, Connor Robinson, Darryn Stamp

Sponsor’s (2G Electrical) MotM: Delano Sam-Yorke

Attendance: 1,357

Referee: Antony Coggins