Glen Harrington
9:11am, Mon 10th Apr 2023
Woking vs Southend United
Vanarama National League
Monday 10th April 2023
Woking will be aiming to extend their unbeaten run to four league games and further cement their third-place position in the National League table when they face Southend United this afternoon.
The Cards haven’t won back-to-back games since mid-January, but despite that have continued to strengthen their league standing as they’ve picked up consistent points, whilst the teams around them have faltered. That was emphasised on Friday when Darren Sarll’s side came from behind for the third match in succession to beat local rivals Dorking Wanderers 2-1 – with a brace from midfielder Rohan Ince proving decisive – whilst fourth place Chesterfield and fifth place Barnet both dropped points.
Victory later today at the Laithwaite Community Stadium would see the Cards confirm qualification for the end of season play-offs for the first time ever in the fifth tier, and they may do so regardless of the result if other games go in their favour – they currently hold a 13-point advantage over eighth place Bromley with just five games remaining. Sarll will hope to have more reinforcements available for his squad, with several players reportedly missing the Dorking game through illness: Joe McNerney and Charlie Wakefield the most notable absentees from Friday’s squad. Kacper Łopata, who made his Woking debut at Dorking, could feature against his former club.
Opposition Watch
It’s been a tough season for Southend which has been marred by more off the field issues. Manager Kevin Maher has done a remarkable job in keeping them competitive and despite a poor run of form in the last couple of months, the Shrimpers still have an outside shot at securing a play-off place, as they sit ninth in the league table, five points adrift of the top seven.
Having occupied a play-off spot for much of the campaign, they lost all seven of their fixtures in March, all by a one-goal margin, including surprise losses to struggling Aldershot and Dorking, as well as promotion-chasers Barnet, Chesterfield, and Wrexham. That streak looked to have dropped them out of play-off contention, but back-to-back wins over Yeovil and Maidstone at the start of April, has pushed them back up the league table.
There are several familiar names in the Southend squad, including striker Jake Hyde, but the Wrexham loanee will be a doubt for this one after being withdrawn mid-way through the first-half in the win over Maidstone. Other former Woking players are defender and captain Nathan Ralph, plus ex-loanees Harry Taylor and Harry Cardwell. Their top scorer this season is midfielder Jack Bridge who has nine. Ex-Yeovil man Rhys Murphy has struggled with injuries and didn’t feature last time out.
Recent Meetings
• Woking
2-1 Southend United – 15th October 2022, FA Cup (Amond, Korboa)
• Southend United
1-1 Woking – 4th October 2022, National League (Grego-Cox)
• Woking
2-3 Southend United – 12th February 2022, National League (Effiong 2)
• Southend United
0-2 Woking – 13th November 2021, National League (Campbell, Kretzschmar)
Tickets
Ticket prices are £20 for Adults, Concessions £15, Next-Gen £12, and just £5 for Under 16s. For more information and to book your ticket please
click here.
