Glen Harrington
10:19am, Fri 12th Mar 2021
Yeovil Town vs Woking
Vanarama National League
Saturday 13th March 2021
Two of the National League’s most improved sides go head-to-head on Saturday as Woking travel to take on Yeovil Town.
It’s a credit to how far the Cards have come in the last six weeks that they were left frustrated to only take a point from the goalless draw with Boreham Wood on Tuesday evening – with the home side missing a host of chances to claim a first league win over the Wood since 2011. Manager Alan Dowson will no doubt be quick to point out the positives of five clean sheets in the last seven games, having only managed three in the previous 18 fixtures in all competitions. That run has also included just two defeats, both in mid-week away fixtures, as well as victories over title chasers Sutton and Torquay.
Yeovil have also had a positive 2021 after a shockingly poor start to the season. The Glovers, who finished fourth last season, took 11 games to register their first league win of the season, which only came in mid-December at Bromley. But after a 6-1 thrashing at Torquay on Boxing Day, they won nine out of 13 to catapult themselves up the standings and into the comfort of mid-table, before back-to-back defeats over the last seven days away to Chesterfield and Sutton. They’re currently in 13th place with 35 points from 27 games, five points more than the Cards who have three games in hand, and three adrift of the top seven.
Woking – Team News
In midfield, Kane Ferdinand will be available again, having now served his one-match suspension for five yellow cards. He will be competing with Ben Dempsey for his position, with the Charlton loanee having filled in on Tuesday evening.
Yeovil Town – The Boss
Darren Sarll has been Yeovil manager since June 2019, taking over at the club following their relegation from the Football League, and guiding them to a fourth place finish last season. He was previously in charge at Stevenage, where he held the top job for just over two years, working alongside Glenn Roeder. He was previously a player at non-league level, playing for the likes of St Albans, Chelmsford, and Hemel Hempstead, before moving into coaching.
One to Watch
There are a couple of players in the Yeovil squad that Woking fans will be familiar with, including defender Josh Staunton and former loan players Joe Quigley and Josh Neufville, but one to watch is striker Rhys Murphy. An experienced player, who has also enjoyed time in the Football League, he was one of the standout players in the Cards’ most recent National League South season where he scored 28 times in all competitions for Chelmsford City. He continued that form last season, netting 20 times in the shortened campaign, including 17 in the National League. He has scored nine times this season.
Last Time Out
Woking 1-1 Yeovil Town – National League (14th November 2020)
The Cards came into this game off the back of FA Cup disappointment against Gillingham, where they surrendered a two goal lead and eventually went down 3-2 to the League One outfit, whilst Yeovil were still searching for their first league win of the season. They looked favourites to get it too, after Matty Warburton’s excellent first-half opener, but after both teams exchanged missed penalties, Josh Davison struck in the dying moments to claim a point for the home side.
Next Up
Woking are back in action on Tuesday evening when the host Altrincham at the Laithwaite Community Stadium. That’s followed by four successive away trips, at Hartlepool United, Wealdstone, Hereford in the FA Trophy, and then Torquay United in our first game of April.
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