Mullets Score Two But Hand Victory To The Cards

Arundel 0 Woking 2
Pre-Season Friendly
20 July 2010

Two own goals were sufficient for Woking to see off a hardworking Sussex County League One side Arundel in this evening’s friendly at the picturesque Mill Lane. With a backdrop of the magnificent Arundel Castle dominating the skyline, the Cards dominated much of this friendly, playing a good deal of neat and flowing football that has already become the hallmark of their pre-season campaign to date.

Graham Baker played more or less two different sides in each half, a mixture of triallists, Academy and youth team plus several first team players. Ross Worner made his first appearance of this season in the second half and Alan Inns also managed forty-five minutes as he comes back from his long-term injury.

Ricky Anane was out with a hamstring injury but should be available for Saturday while Joe McNerney’s ankle injury, picked up at Winchester on Saturday, may take a little longer to mend. Other absentees included Craig Faulconbridge, Dave Gilroy and Andy Forbes.

The first half saw Will Viner in goal, with a back four of David Ray, Daniel Sintim, Aswad Thomas and Ryan Watts. In midfield the Cards had triallist Chris Sullivan, Jerome Maledon, Francis Quarm and Anson Cousins, with Ola Sogbanmu and Danny Fernandez paired in attack.

The Cards dominated possession during the early exchanges with Fernandez coming close on a number of occasions. After ten minutes Woking perhaps should have taken the lead. A magnificent through ball from Maledon found Fernandez clear on the right. He advanced into the box but his shot was scuffed and turned away by O’Connor, the Arundel keeper.

Six minutes later another excellent pass from Jerome Maledon split the hosts' defence for Chris Sullivan to cross but an Arundel defender was just able to glance the ball away as Fernandez rose to attack a gaping net. A couple of half chances followed for the “Mullets� (the fish not the hair) as Norgate blasted over and Tipper’s close range effort was deflected away by his own team mate.

At the other end a low cross from Ryan Watts took a deflection and almost sneaked in at the far post. But finally Woking had the lead. On the stroke of half time, another whipped in cross from Watts was volleyed magnificently into his own net by defender Hall as he attempted to clear.

Half-time: Arundel 0 Woking 1

For the second half Woking lined up with Ross Worner in goal, a back four of David Ray, Alan Inns, Aswad Thomas and Josh Casey, a midfield of Moses Ademola, Mark Ricketts, Daryn Hennessy and Sam Hurrell, with Tobias Weppelmann partnering Gomez Dali up front.

And after five minutes Woking had doubled their lead thanks to a second own goal. From a short corner the ball bobbled around in the box as Alan Inns first attempted to stab the ball home before it was deflected to Sam Hurrell on the left. He got to the bye line and his low cross was deflected into the net by Grove.

At the other end Ross Worner was now called upon to make a good save as he got down low to save from a Tipper header but it was the Cards who were now creating all the chances.

A Dali cross was volleyed wide by Hurrell before the big forward stooped low to head Ademola’s teasing cross just wide. On the hour mark Sam Hurrell saw his curled shot fly just wide of the far post after good work from Josh Casey to set him up. And a minute later an excellent Ademola volley from outside the box was turned away by a diving O’Connor.

Gomez Dali now went close with three efforts. The first a drive from outside the box just wide, a strong run through two tackles and a shot again just wide before finally meeting an Ademola cross and heading this effort past the post. On another day surely one of these attempts would have found the back of the net.

Arundel had provided the Cards with another useful workout as the hosts kept running and working to the end. Amongst a number of good performances, Jerome Maledon looked composed on the ball and provided a number of excellent passes to set up dangerous attacking opportunities. In the second half, Sam Hurrell was lively on the left side of midfield, Moses Ademola had a number of exciting runs and excellent crosses and again Gomez Dali showed his power, pace and ability to be in the right place at the right time. He will have been disappointed that he was not quite able to add to his already impressive tally of four pre-season goals.

However, with the remaining pre-season games featuring teams from higher divisions it will be interesting to see how the triallists perform against stronger opposition.



Woking: Will Viner* (Ross Worner 46), David Ray (Aaron Gough 71), Ryan Watts (Josh Casey 46), Jerome Maledon (Mark Ricketts 46), Daniel Sintim (Alan Inns 46), Aswad Thomas (Gavin Miller 71), Chris Sullivan (Moses Ademola 46), Francis Quarm (Daryn Hennessy 46), Ola Sogbanmu (Gomez Dali 46), Danny Fernandez (Tobias Weppelmann 46), Anson Cousins (Sam Hurrell 46)

*Triallists in italics

Arundel: (Starting Line Up) O’Connor, Coleman, Hall, McCoy, Towers, Hardwell, Grove, Walker, Tipper, Norgate, Neighbour