Hampton & Richmond Borough 1 Woking 2
Blue Square Bet South
30th October 2010

This really was “a game of two halves� at the Beveree Stadium this afternoon. After a disappointing first period, Woking battled back from 1-0 down to win with a late Elvis Hammond penalty, giving the Cards their first points on the road since the beginning of September.

Hampton & Richmond started this game with striker Charlie Moone up front and it was the ex-Woking player who helped the Beavers get off to the brighter start. Moone beat the off-side trap early on to get in on goal but his shot was comfortably saved by Andy Little. Hampton continued to press with Moone looking dangerous up front; although under pressure, Woking never looked in major trouble dealing with the hosts’ long-range shots. After the initial pressure Woking started to get on the ball more and came close to taking the lead in the 16th minute as a scramble in the Hampton box led to the ball dropping for Moses Ademola on the edge of the six-yard box. But, off balance, he could only put the ball over the bar.

With the game seemingly in the balance, Hampton came forward again, with Moone having another shot which again was blocked but this time the ball found its way to Dean Inman, who calmly fired into the bottom corner to put the Beavers one up. Woking tried to get back into the game but their chances were few and far between. Ademola broke down the wing on the half-hour mark and flashed the ball across the box but no Cards’ players could get on the end of it.

Woking may count themselves lucky not to have gone in 2-0 down when Moone again beat the offside trap and found himself one-on-one with the Cards’ keeper. However, he could not hold his nerve and his lob was well wide of the Woking net.

Half-time: Hampton & Richmond 1 Woking 0

Despite being behind Woking came out with a look of intent in the second half and were almost immediately rewarded. Aswad Thomas came close after getting his head on a Ryan Blake corner but the ball ran across the goal and out for a throw. Woking had certainly started to find some rhythm and came close again as Ademola and Ricky Anane combined well but Craig Faulconbridge couldn’t get on the end of Anane’s cross.

As the game seemingly started to slip away from the Cards Graham Baker replaced Ademola and Faulconbridge with Dave Gilroy and Ola Sogbanmu. Woking had no choice but to attack and with Hampton on the back foot the Cards took control of the midfield battle and started to win numerous set pieces, none of which seemed to cause the tall Beavers' backline too much trouble. However, when all seemed lost a Woking attack saw the ball drop to 'man of the match' Elvis Hammond (pictured) on the edge of the box. He turned his defender and hit a left-foot shot across the keeper and into the bottom corner to level things up with 5 minutes to play.

With all three points up for grabs, neither team sat back with opportunities at both ends. First, a goalmouth scramble in the Woking box saw keeper Andy Little clear the danger. The Cards again pushed forward, this time with Dave Gilroy threading the ball to Mark Ricketts, who played a tempting ball into the Hampton box.

With three minutes of added time played Elvis Hammond was again in the Hampton box and trying to find an opening. Tripped by a defender, Woking finally had the opportunity they needed to secure a valuable away win. Hammond picked himself up and coolly stroked the ball past Lovett into the right-hand corner of the net to send the players, travelling fans behind the goal and Woking bench into ecstasy. And so a morale boosting win on the road for the Cards as they now prepare for next week’s challenge on the south coast - our FA Cup tie at Brighton.


Woking: Andy Little, Ricky Anane (Francis Quarm, 86), Aswad Thomas, Mark Ricketts, Joe McNerney, Adam Doyle, Moses Ademola (Dave Gilroy, 65), Jerome Maledon, Craig Faulconbridge (Ola Sogbanmu, 74), Elvis Hammond, Ryan Blake

Unused subs: Alan Inns, Matt Pegler

Hampton & Richmond Borough: Matt Lovett, Danny Allen-Page, Craig Tanner, Dean Inman, David Stevens, Orlando Jeffrey, Lloyd Boeteng, Jamie Simmonds, David Tarpey (Ian Hodges 64), Charlie Moone (Laurence Yaku 82), Louis Rae Beadle (Barry Matthews 70)

Unused subs: Ryan Adams, Kraig Rochester

MOTM: Elvis Hammond

Attendance: 796