Grays Athletic 3 Woking 0: 26th August 2006
by Brian Caffarey

Well, I’m glad that I don’t have the task of putting a ‘positive spin’ on this game for the official site! The cries of ‘Cockerill out’ which echoed from a substantial section of the away fans at the end of this comprehensive defeat were perhaps a bit harsh as a verdict on this particular performance, especially given the quality of the opposition, but, in truth, there wasn’t much to enthuse about in this display.

Karim El-Salahi kept his place in central defence, partnering Gary MacDonald. Shola Oyedele played in front of the back four. Karl Murray and Ollie Berquez filled the central midfield slots, with Jon Nurse (making his debut on loan from Stevenage) and Goma Lambu (making his first start) supporting Craig McAllister on the right and left flanks respectively. There was no sign of our other new signing, Saheed Sankoh.

Any early optimism engendered by the new signings lasted the three minutes it took Grays to take the lead. Jon Nurse made an inauspicious start, giving away a free-kick out on the Woking right. Michael Kightly curled the ball into the far post, where Aaron McLean rose unchallenged to head powerfully past Shwan Jalal from close range. Quite who was supposed to be marking McLean wasn’t clear. This was to prove not the only time the Woking defence looked at sixes and sevens, with Gary MacDonald having another afternoon he will want to forget.

McLean’s pace and power continued to cause all sorts of problems. He should have done better a few minutes later when he robbed Gary MacDonald, planting his resulting cross in Shwan Jalal’s arms.

The Cards began to recover from their shaky start. Goma Lambu and Jon Nurse combined well, with the former just failing to reach the latter’s cross into the box. Goma returned the compliment a couple of minutes later with a superb cross from the left. Jon Nurse’s shot cannoned off a defender for a corner. Craig McAllister then had a decent header from the edge of the area but, like most of Woking’s efforts this afternoon, it went wide of the target.

For the next quarter of an hour or so the Cards seemed to be establishing a firm foothold in the game but without creating any clear chances. Too many hopeful balls still seemed to be hammered up to Craig, and a static Ollie Berquez and a subdued Karl Murray made little inroad in central midfield.

Around the half hour mark there were ominous stirrings again from the hosts. McLean once more slipped his marker on the edge of the box, nudged the ball to Dennis Oli, whose snap shot was brilliantly palmed away to his left by Shwan Jalal. Woking briefly responded with Danny Bunce finding Jon Nurse with a long cross. The latter’s shot hit the defender’s hand but the referee waved play on, ruling that it was not deliberate. Grays countered with a quick break, involving the impressive Kightly and McLean. John Martin, providing a lesson in constructive midfield industry, found McLean with a lovely ball over the top of Gary MacDonald but Gary recovered well to block the shot. Two corners followed, both of which were defended poorly by a static defence, who left McLean and Nicholls free to get in shots.

Woking responded with a Gary MacDonald downward header from a corner before falling further behind to a superbly-worked goal just before half-time. A move down the right saw Grays put together nine or ten passes. Andy Sambrook powered through. Gary MacDonald missed his tackle and Aaron McLean finished with a fine shot. It was nearly three as McLean played in Oli but Shwan was quick enough to grab the ball first.

Half-time: Grays Athletic 2 Woking 0

Shola Oyedele, who had been pretty anonymous in the first half, playing too deep to have any real influence on the game, was sacrificed at half-time, with Giuseppe Sole joining the fray on the left, Jon Nurse moving inside to support Craig, and Goma Lambu switching to the right flank. For a few minutes it looked as if the Cards might still make a game of it as they pushed Grays back. Giuseppe made a good run and even Simon Jackson came up and launched a shot on goal. But then Grays scored a killer goal, and it was so simple! Michael Kightly was slipped through on the right. Gary MacDonald couldn’t hold him off. Kightly shot from out right, the ball arced over Shwan and into the far corner of the net. 3-0. Game over.

Giuseppe Sole in particular continued to threaten and had a couple of decent shots. Goma Lambu worked hard on the right, chasing back and getting one or two crosses in. But there was little sense of urgency from the rest. Jon Nurse, who had always looked a little tentative, appeared increasingly tired and unable to make much impact through the middle. He took too long to line up a shot after being put through by Craig McAllister. Steve Ferguson came on in the 83rd minute for Craig. Grays meanwhile replaced the injured McLean and Oli with Jamie Slabber and John Turner – as if to emphasise the strength of their striking options in comparison to Woking’s.

The game petered out with a poor free-kick from Karl Murray and a better effort from Jez Sole.

This was a disappointing performance against an admittedly very good side. It’s hard to think of a Woking player who had a good game: perhaps only Goma Lambu, Shwan Jalal and perhaps Karim El-Salahi can look back on the afternoon with any degree of satisfaction. Several players, including Gary MacDonald, Ollie Berquez and Karl Murray, were distinctly below par.

Glenn and the players will know that a win on Monday against Kidderminster Harriers is now vital.

Woking: Shwan Jalal, Simon Jackson, Karim El-Salahi, Gary MacDonald, Danny Bunce; Karl Murray, Shola Oyedele (Giuseppe Sole, 45), Ollie Berquez; Jon Nurse, Craig McAllister (Steve Ferguson, 82), Goma Lambu

Subs not used: Aaron Howe, Tom Hutchinson, Neil Smith

Man of the Match: Goma Lambu

Moment of the match: Grays’ superbly-crafted second goal. (For Woking, Shwan’s fine save from Dennis Oli.

Attendance: 1116

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