William Bewsey
4:05pm, Mon 30th Dec 2024
Woking vs Maidenhead United
Vanarama National League
Wednesday 1st January 2025
15:00 Kick-Off
Woking kick off 2025 with the visit of Maidenhead United to the Laithwaite on New Year’s Day.
Neal Ardley has picked up four points from his opening two games as boss, having seen his side score more than once in back-to-back league games for the first time since August. However, his options will again be limited with just Cian Harries and Tunji Akinola available as central defenders, whilst Ben Wynter, Max Dyche, Timi Odusina and Dan Moss all remain sidelined.
With this being the first of three consecutive home games in a week, and four games in ten days in total, Ardley will hope to build on the Cards’ 2-2 draw at rivals Aldershot Town on Boxing Day.
Opposition Watch
Alan Devonshire could bring up ten years of service at York Road in May, provided he continues to keep Maidenhead United punching above their weight in the National League. Favourites for the drop every season, the Magpies keep their heads above water courtesy of a few big scalps, in which a former EFL club will be ‘Devonshire’d’ and his side will survive relegation.
Off-the-pitch news surrounding the club has been mixed. Max Kilman’s transfer to West Ham banked his former club a serious windfall of the multi million pound transfer fee, but their plans to use it to depart the relic that is York Road have been scuppered by the local council.
On it, Maidenhead find themselves in a similar position. A much-needed Boxing Day win over Wealdstone was a big boost, as only goal difference keeps Braintree Town above them and in the first safety spot of 20th. With York, Altrincham and Barnet to play in January, the Magpies will be hoping that they can ‘Devonshire’ another team trying to gatecrash the EFL.
Ten points collected from 12 away games is three better than the Cards’ return on their travels, having defeated Braintree, Boston and Southend on the road thus far. Shawn McCoulsky leads the club scoring charts with seven ahead of Tristan Abrahams and Reece Smith on five each: expect Smith to attract some EFL interest in the January window after backing up his 11 goal return last season.
Around the Ground
Tickets are available
here.
Please note that Victoria Way is shut with diversions in place, so we advise fans to leave plenty of time to get to the ground on Saturday..
Last Time Out
Surprisingly, these sides didn’t meet in 2024, with both fixtures last season coming before the New Year. Two scoreless draws apiece contributed two points to each side’s final tally as both left it relatively late to secure safety.
In 2022/23, Woking were victorious at the Laithwaite thanks to Luke Wilkinson and Padraig Amond, whilst Maidenhead were victorious at York Road by a 1-0 scoreline.
There have been 22 fixtures between the sides since 2009, with Woking winning nine, Maidenhead eight and five draws.