Cards get back to league action
Brian Caffarey
7:15am, Fri 17th Dec 2010
Woking v St Albans City
3pm on Saturday 18 December 2010
Weather permitting – the pitch has been covered since Wednesday evening but snow is forecast – the Cards will get back to league action on Saturday after a three-week break. The visitors, St Albans City, lie rooted at the bottom of the league and are also mired, like so many clubs, in financial difficulties, but with the added threat of points being deducted as a result of alleged irregularities over payments. If ever there was a chance for Graham Baker’s side to get their home league form on the right track, this is it. An added attraction for Woking fans is a likely home debut for Joe Keehan and, possibly, Reiss Noel. So, give Christmas shopping a miss, wrap up warmly and make your way to Kingfield! If you can pop a long earlier, at 10 o’clock, with gloves, to help take off the covers, even better.
WOKING
Graham Baker will recall that the Saints tripped us up at home in the league last season. In a game which the Cards were expected to win comfortably, a weakened side served up a very poor display and went down 0-1. Let’s hope there’s no repeat this time! On the assumption that everyone is fit, Graham will have a few difficult selection decisions to make, with both Alan Inns and Anson Cousins performing well at Harlow last Saturday but with Sam Hurrell champing at the bit to get back into action following his return from a successful loan spell at Boreham Wood.
ST ALBANS CITY
The Saints’ recent league form is poor. They had an unexpected 1-1 draw at Chelmsford City at the beginning of November but followed this with three defeats: 6-0 away to Welling United, 2-0 at home to Farnborough and 3-1 away to Lewes. A bright spot was a 3-1 home win over Staines Town in the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy, with on-loan Card Ollie Palmer scoring the opening goal, but they went out tamely to Dorchester in the next round, last Saturday, losing 3-0, failing to register a single shot on target. They will have to re-shuffle their attack on Saturday since Ollie will not be eligible to play.
The Saints are bottom of the table on goal difference, having gained only 10 points from 16 games, with 9 goals scored and 17 conceded away from home. Ironically, their away record is slightly better than their home record, with their only win coming at Havant and Waterlooville in mid-September.
In the away fixture on 4 September the Cards, with on-loan Chris Bush shining, totally dominated the game but could only manage to scrape a 1-0 win. As usual, veteran keeper Paul Bastock did his best to frustrate the mis-firing Cards forwards.
The Cards will need to be wary of giant defender Ben Martin’s threat in the air from set pieces. The Saints’ squad includes ex-Card Peter Smith. Steve Castle has recently brought in defender Matt Hocking and midfielder Nicholas Chrysanthou but Hector Mackie has left the club.
ADMISSION
Adults - £12
Juniors (u16s) - £2
Concessions / Students - £8
CHRISTMAS PROJECT
Don’t forget to bring your donations for the Club’s Christmas Project, including non-perishable food items for distribution to the elderly.
Come on, you Cards!
P.S. Make sure you've lined up family and friends for a Boxing Day afternoon trip to Kingfield!