York City 2 Woking 0
Vanarama National League
6th August 2022
The season started at York City's impressive and relatively new stadium with Cards fans in a positive mood and the hope of a refreshed squad and some optimistic signs in pre-season. Manager Darren Sarll had a squad that he had mostly created, with just 6 of the 16 in the matchday squad retained from last season. York were in red with Woking in the new yellow and navy kit. Nearly 250 Woking fans were in one corner of the ground.
The early action was in the Woking half with both teams looking to try to impose themselves, but after just two minutes Luke James of York City got to the right of the area and nearly squeezed the ball through the legs of the advancing Craig Ross, but the Woking keeper just managed to take the momentum off the ball and regain possession.
A neat move with Tyreke Johnson, Josh Casey and Rohan Ince was blocked on the edge of the area after six minutes, but this was Woking's first real foray into the opposing half.
On nine minutes there was a strong appeal for a penalty when Olly Dyson got past Rohan Ince in the box and was tackled but the referee was not interested. A miskick by Ethan Ross (after this E Ross as there were Ross’s in both goals!) in the York goal saw the ball fly out at the York end and Woking forced E Ross into his first save. York got the ball back and were straight up the other end with a neat move but Mitch Hancox was unable to get any power on the shot and Ross saved easily.
A long ball from the Woking midfield saw Amond with good possession in the box but his short pass was intercepted before another Woking player could get on the ball. Ince had a shot blocked in a quick move from the left touchline and the ball was sent out for a corner, but two attempts to put pressure on the home team were well cleared.
We then saw a period of sustained pressure by York City that included a shot from outside the area that caused to crowd to get excited, but it drifted past Ross's right hand post. Josh Casey went to ground after an off-the-ball incident that upset the local supporters, but out of view of the referee, who had been using his whistle sparingly and taking care to give advantage where appropriate.
Dan Moss competes for the ball
Phil Fiddes
Half way through the first half honours were fairly even with the home side having slightly better chances, but with neither side dominating.
Maz Kouhyar, the stand-out player from both sides, had a number of crosses from the York right wing well defended by Woking's centre-halves. He robbed Casey and got the ball into Dyson on the edge of the ‘D’ but his powerful shot was wide.
Luke James mishit a shot as he was tackled on the edge of the box. It looked as though it would roll wide, but hit the post, with Ross nowhere near. Kouhyar got round Casey and looked to threaten but the Woking skipper recovered to block his shot.
Kouhyar then went on to beat Scott Cuthbert and left him on the ground as he hit a powerful shot past Ross to open the scoring for the home team. 36 minutes and it was York City 1-0 Woking
Woking were not having much joy now in the York half - James Daly made a penetrating run on the left - his first of the game - but his cross was nowhere near any of his own team. Ince had a shot from 30 yards but it was too weak to trouble E Ross.
After a good challenge by Lenell John-Lewis, Kouhyar found the space and time to line up a good shot that went just over the bar.
A penetrating long ball over the top from Luke Wilkinson was picked up by Daly in a dangerous position as he charged at the City goal, but he couldn't direct his shot and the keeper made the save.
The last action of an absorbing half saw a misguided ball in from Jermaine Anderson float past the far post.
Half-time: York City 1-0 Woking
The second half started with an unchanged Woking side clearly trying to impose themselves a little more. Jim Kellerman tried perhaps a bit too hard and found himself in the referee's book for a lunging tackle that might have seen a card of a different colour.
Shortly after, Luke Wilkinson was in the referee's book for a tackle from behind. From the resulting free kick there would have been a good chance for York but play was stopped for offside. Kellerman went off to be replaced by Reece Grego-Cox.
A promising attack for York down the right hand side was cleared for a corner, but the weak clearance was well hit by Duckworth into the far corner. So, in the 56th minute it York doubled their lead and the Cards really were going to be challenged to get anything from the game.
Cuthbert put in a lunging tackle just inside the York half and became the third name in the book from Woking. Battling work by Grego-Cox on the right hand side and close to the corner flag got the ball to Ince who moved it to Johnson, but his shot edged just wide of the York post with the keeper static.
The effect of the bookings was clear and Wilkinson pulled out of a challenge that he surely would have made without already being in the book but the York attack came to nothing.
A corner for York from an attack was broken up by the head of Wilkinson. York had a couple of minutes of pressure, and Woking almost made something of the clearance that ended it.
We were halfway through the second and it was looking a long way back for the Cards. Jack Roles came on from Anderson who had played energetically and with commitment and more forward than he has before.
Casey was booked for impeding a York attacker as he ran dangerously towards the penalty area. Luckily for the Cards, the header from the resulting free kick went just over the bar.
The Cards won a free kick for a tackle by Hunt on Moss. Roles floated it in from the right hand touchline but the header by Grego-Cox forced E Ross into a one handed save from close in. That save at 78 minutes felt like a decisive moment.
Roles was booked for a body check on John-Lewis, whose retaliation was timed to be not seen by the referee. There was a good attempt by York to finish the game off, but Ross managed to just palm the shot away. York also had a neat move between Hurst and Kouhyar that ended with a shot that seemed to be going wide, but was very nearly deflected in to the far corner.
On 86 minutes, Cuthbert was moved into attack, with Tyreke Johnson. Kouhyar came of on 90 minutes to a strong ovation from the home fans and Fraser Kerr came on.
The extra time was set at 7 minutes and in that period York City got their first yellow card for Hurst when he kicked the ball away after being caught offside.
Woking kept trying but with no real threat. A weak shot by Ince went straight to the keeper but it was something of a relief when the referee blew his whistle for the last time.
This was a disappointing performance. The first half was more balanced, but in the second half, the Woking attack looked disjointed and it was clear that the better team one. Looking at the bookings, you might think that the referee had been ‘whistle happy’ but in my notes, I remarked that he had tried to let things flow. On another day, a couple of the tackles could have come into the ‘I’ve seen them given as red’ category and there might have been a penalty or two.
Darren Sarll will be unhappy after his comments before the match about the importance of clean sheets and it wasn’t a great start with the new squad, but he has the reputation of being able to improve teams and solve problems with success building. After some seasons of wonderful starts, but terrible second halves of the season, Cards fans will be hoping that that is the case.
Woking: 13 Craig Ross, 3 Josh Casey, 4 Scott Cuthbert, 6 Luke Wilkinson, 8 James Daly, 10 Padraig Amond, 11 Tyreke Johnson (Jo McNerney 86), 12 Dan Moss, 17 Jim Kellerman (9 Reece Grego-Cox 55), 23 Jermaine Anderson (18 Jack Roles 69), 24 Rohan Ince
Unused subs: 1 Ethan Wady, 25 Sid Nelson
Bookings: J Kellerman (51), L Wilkinson (53), S Cuthbert (59), J Casey (72), J Roles (79)
York City 1 Ethan Ross, 3 Adam Crookes, 4 Maxim Kougun, 8 Olly Dyson, 11 Maz Kouhyar (5 Fraser Kerr 89), 12 Alex Whittle, 14 Lenell John-Lewis (9 Scott Boden 90), 16 Mitch Hancox, 19 Dan Pybus, 23 Luke James (7 Alex Hurst 90), 28 Michael Duckworth
Unused subs: 10 Scott Burgess, 18 Ryan Whitley
Goals: M Kouhyar 36, M Duckworth 56
Bookings: A Hurst 90
Referee: Ed Duckworth
Attendance: 3978 including 246 Cards
Man of the Match: It’s hard to pick out a man of the match as no Woking players caught the eye for anything very positive, so after some consideration and consultation, I went for Luke Wilkinson.
