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| York City 0 Woking 1: 29th December 2006 Scorers This match will remain in the memory for three reasons - the touchline 'brawl'; Jamie Taylor's first (and matchwinning) goal for the club; and the monsoon in the second half. For the second year in a row, here we were at Kitkat Crescent on a Friday night. Last time it had been in August. December was a different matter. A faithful 60 odd 'packed' ( ! ) the away end and saw new signing - keeper James Bittner (cover for the injured Aaron Howe) - warming up with Shwan. The team mirrored that for the Oxford game with the exception of Matt Ruby for Gary Mac at the back. York fielded the much-admired Clayton Donaldson, being watched by Barry Fry, presumably as a part of his campaign to hoover up all the best Conference players for Peterborough. (NB - Donaldson didn't especially shine, but it's a bit worrying that he saw Shwan and Hutch at their considerable best, just before the transfer window opens). York had much of the action in the first half with winger Woolford proving elusive, speedy and, in other words, a 'right handful'. If I recall correctly, Danny and Karl were both booked for bringing him down, but fortunately, his "mazy" runs weren't translated into goals. The most significant moment of the first half was an unbelievable miss by Craig Farrell, clear on goal with only Shwan to beat, dragging his effort wide with an appalling shot. If this had gone in The second half continued the pattern of the first with pressure from York, though much of it amounted to huff and puff with little end product, with the Cards battling for their lives, exactly as they had done at the Kassam Stadium a few days earlier. Then came the rain. Torrential doesn't begin to do it justice, and had it started before the game, who knows whether the match would have been completed. The Woking faithful (mostly) trooped round to get under cover, though an (insane?) few stayed behind the goal (Robbie, I think it was you !!) and I retired to take pictures from under cover. This became significant when the fighting broke out, as I was no longer pitchside, though on the same side and therefore at 180 degrees to the 'action'. It started (I think) with a foul by Gez, to which a York player reacted, and then all hell was let loose, but in the space between the dugouts and into the tunnel, and with players milling around from the pitch, I saw absolutely nothing. Not being diplomatic, I probably had the worst view in the whole ground. The ref eventually took the fourth official's word on everything and dismissed a York sub - who was absolutely incandescent to be red-carded (guess he'll claim to have been trying to stop the aggro (quite possibly fairly); Nathan Peat, who had played and been substituted was next and I was convinced was shown yellow, though all the subsequent reports say he was 'sent off' as well; and lastly Matt was called forward, the ref pointed to the stand, Matt gave him the thumbs up and went without demure. And that's all I know. Before that, of course, the Cards had taken the lead after Jamie Taylor was put through one-on-one with the keeper by Craig. He coolly took the ball on and chipped it over the advancing Tom Evans for his first goal for the club. This was a just reward for Jamie, who had worked hard all game, harrying and closing down, defending from the front, such a vital part of 'getting something' away from home. My fellow travellers argued, post-match, however, about just how far offside he was from Craig's pass J Three unexpected points, hard won in desperate conditions, but the fall-out from this game is yet to be seen. Woking (4-4-2):
Jalal; Murray, Hutchinson, Ruby, Bunce; Lambu, Evans, Smith (Oyedele 89), Sole; McAllister, Taylor (Ferguson 90).
Man of the Match: Hutch, of course, was quite magnificent, and manages to make a huge contribution in both boxes - playing both ways as they would call it in the NFL - but this time I'll give it to Jamie Taylor - determination, no little skill and the winning goal. Jamie looks like he really wants to make an impression, and is going about it in exactly the right way. Good on yer. Moment of the Match: Well, David hasn't mentioned one but it's either got to be Jamie's first goal or the brawl, hasn't it? - Mick Attendance: 3,173 |
