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| Woking 3 Forest Green Rovers 3: 14th April 2007 Scorers After two wins over Easter weekend you could almost forgive the Cards for not being quite as determined against Forest Green with safety all but secured. However, the first half performance was far from determined at all and more lethargic and halfhearted. Baker and Smith made changes. Ollie Berquez was brought into the midfield to partner Murray, and Sole replaced Bunce on the left wing. Strange changes if you ask me. How Berquez gets into midfield ahead of Selley, Smith or Osano is a mystery and the reason Bunce seems to be behind the all but useless Green is unknown to everyone but the management. Ollie spent most of the first half watching the ball and not actually trying to win it or do anything with it, as usual. Halfhearted tackles, shocking passing and general laziness just makes him such a wasteful choice. It's no surprise that the second half produced a turnaround in fortunes. Oh yes, if you want to bring out ancient football clichés then "a game of two halves" this truly was. Although, it was more of a game of 80 minutes and 10 minutes as Woking only came alive at the death. Up until that point although there was still some vague sense of wanting to play football and score goals it was all lost under languor and sluggishness. Forest Green, even now three points from safety, needed the points, and it showed. The first ten minutes were all but forgettable. McAllister tamely shooting wide the only action of any note but the game suddenly burst to life on 11 minutes when Woking's two ex-Cambridge players combined. Gier played a neat pass into the path of Marum who went on a mazy run into the area, bustling his way through before shooting wide. However, almost directly from the goal kick a through ball found Paul Stonehouse but his run was excellently tracked by Gier who slid in to push it out for a corner. Woking almost broke from that, Berquez finding Sole who swept a glorious ball into the path of Marum who started another run before losing his way. From that the Rovers broke, Stonehouse getting the ball out wide and getting close to the by-line before putting a cross into the danger area. Danny Carey-Bertram nipped in, glanced a header across Gindre and watched gleefully as it bounced off the far post and over the line. 1-0. The combination of the lively Stonehouse with the powerful Carey-Bertram provided an attacking force, which caused continuous problems up until the 62nd minute when the latter was surprisingly substituted, and they certainly did the damage for the goal, combining brilliantly. Moments later and Stonehouse had a pot shot fly over as they went looking for a second and then Carey-Bertram nicked in ahead of Gindre again, this time taking the ball away from him and setting himself up to strike into the empty net. However, Gier covered brilliantly and blocked superbly to prevent him adding a second. On 20 minutes, McAllister almost levelled, meeting Gier's long cross with a firm dipping header which looked like it was creeping over Ryan Harrison until he flicked it over the crossbar at the last second. Marum then got in down the right side of the area but his shot across the keeper' was parried well and ended up agonisingly rolling along the box before being cleared. Despite this mini resurgence the Cards still looked iffy at the back, Gier having to block Stonehouse when the rest of the defence went AWOL and Gindre fumbling a cross. On 40 minutes, Stonehouse won a very dubious free kick against MacDonald when it looked like he had won the ball and a neatly worked move almost freed Carey-Bertram but good work from McAllister and Gindre stopped him. With half time approaching, Rovers added a second on the 44th minute. Carey-Bertram the scorer once again, getting across MacDonald and sliding in to convert a cross from Kevin Nicholson. The goal was a little harsh on the Cards who despite being below par were not two goals worse than their opponents. However, things got worse, almost straight from the kick off. The ball falling kindly to Nicholson mid pitch about 25 yards out and he let fly with his left foot, the ball bounced towards goal hit the stanchion and into the net, leaving the Rovers fans celebrating. 3-0 when the half time whistle blew and Woking could feel a little aggrieved. Three half time substitutions were called for, with Smith, Selley and Pearce replacing Gier, Berquez and MacDonald. Murray moved to right back allowing Selley and Smith to play centre midfield and Sole was given more of a free role midfield. Woking certainly looked a bit more lively, and after a rather uninspiring first fifteen minute spell, a long throw was met by Hutchinson and kindly fell to Sole in the area but he half volleyed wide. Gindre was called into action moments later to tip over a header before Sole tried again, this time with his left foot after receiving a pass from Selley but once again it flew wide. At the other end substitute Lee Dodgson started to cause problems, firstly latching onto a loose ball in the area while Hutchinson and Pearce dilly-dallied. He steadied himself and rifled a low shot at goal from the angle but Gindre parried it away. Dodgson caused problems again when Simon Clist met his shot-cum-cross at the far post and from just six yards out it looked certain to be 4-0 but Gindre dived full length to somehow prevent the almost definite goal. This seemed to give the Cards the extra boost they needed. On 82 minutes, Lambu went flying down the right, taking on his man and swinging in a high cross, which McAllister met at the back post and knocked down in the area. It got away from Sole and Jamie Pitman but fell kindly to Marum who sneaked his shot between two defenders and seemingly the keepers' hand to give Woking a consolation. Or so it seemed at the time. The Cards kept fighting though and a neat passing move from Murray, Selley and Sole allowed the latter to turn once again and selfishly let one fly for the third time in the half only to get it wrong once again. Moments later and Lambu burst down the right once again, going past two before firing in a low cross to find defender-cum-striker Hutchinson waiting on the penalty spot and he made no mistake wrapping his foot round the ball to drill the cross into the bottom corner and suddenly Woking sensed an equaliser. Every pass forward was cheered, as the crowd almost willed the ball towards goal. A soft free kick was given to the delight of Kingfield and an almighty cheer went up as everyone sensed a last minute long ball into the box, however, Sole had other ideas, catching the keeper' unawares he hammered it from over 30 yards out into the top corner leaving Harrison motionless. Cue seems of pandemonium around Kingfield as Sole ripped of his shirt and flew into Moaners Corner. The Cards went after a 4th but there wasn't really any time left, and they barely deserved the point let alone all three. After two wins on the bounce it was disappointing albeit kind of unsurprising to see a below par performance, until the last ten minutes, in which they just about made up for it. Even the normally superior Hutchinson had lazy moments and the whole team just lacked that passion in the first half. However, there were good second half performances from Marum, Lambu and Smith but the last ten minutes don't disguise the fact that the 80 minutes preceding it was pretty poor. Then again the last ten minutes are a big part of any match and to score three in them is an almighty achievement. I think this one left a lot of Woking fans not knowing what to think. The last ten minutes were surreal. Woking (4-4-2):
Gindre; Gier (Smith 46), Hutchinson, MacDonald (Pearce 46), Green; Lambu, Berquez (Selley 46), Murray, Sole; McAllister, Marum.
Man of the Match: Liam Marum - full of energy and a neat finish to get the Cards back in the game. Moment of the Match: It has to be doesn't it? 90th minute, 3-2 down, the boy wonder steps up and unleashes another beauty. Magic! Attendance: 1,578 |
