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| Rushden & Diamonds 2 Woking 1: 1st March 2008 Scorers Woking made it three straight league defeats against Rushden & Diamonds at Nene Park despite taking an early lead. They could have no complaints either after a torrid second half display. Frank Gray made some strange changes, starting with four centrebacks in Gasson, Hutchinson, Lorraine and Ruby. Quamina, Gray and Pattison all got the nod along with Bunce with Marum and Morgan up front and Worner in goal. The team lined up in a 5-3-2/3-5-2 formation with Ruby and Bunce as wingbacks and Pattison playing further forward but as the half wore it appeared more like a 4-4-2 with Gasson and Ruby as full backs and Bunce and Pattison on the wings. Whatever it was, there were flashes of it working in the first half an hour in which the Cards equitted themselves fairly well and got off to a fantastic start, but after that it all fell apart. Just two minutes in and good work from Morgan on the left touchline allowed him to try and curl a ball over to Pattison. It looked like it was going to be cut out but went through the defender and it allowed Pattison to take it in his stride and pick his spot before rifling a sensational strike into the back of the net from a good twenty plus yards. The visitors replied quickly when Michael Rankine had a tame effort roll wide and on eight minutes Curtis Osano's ball in fell to Chris Hope but he could only half volley wide under pressure from the Woking defence. Moments later and Morgan won a rather generous free kick from the inept and inconsistent Mr Sainsbury and Bunce fired it goalwards but it was caught well by Dale Roberts with Morgan lurking. The Cards were looking comfortable enough though and it was an even game, they even had a couple of spells of good possession and put together some neat moves without really threatening. Rushden looked equally as toothless at the other end though until the half hour mark. First, Lorraine had to clear a very dangerous free kick away with a good header and Andy Gooding's ball in caused even more problems with Rankine lurking and a big scramble in the area saw the ball head goalwards before Hutchinson produced a fantastic clearance off the line. Rushden came even closer moments later, when left back Dean Howell got clear and whipped in a dangerous cross which was met by Andrew Burgess at the back post. He jumped higher than Gasson and his thumping header cannoned back off of the bar. The Cards got away with another dangerous corner when the referee blew for a free kick and they replied when Gray hit a tame effort that was easily saved by Roberts. On 33 minutes, Rushden got a deserved equaliser. Curtis Woodhouse broke forward from midfield but was half stopped by some good defending and the ball ricochet around midfield before Quamina's forward pass was blocked and the ball fell kindly to Jon Challinor. He reacted quicker than any of the Cards backline and hit a first time drive from just outside the area that flew past Worner and into the back of the net. Woking almost retook the lead in the 36th minute when Marum finally broke the offside trap, darting onto a neat through ball by Gray. He ran in from the left wing but keeper Roberts closed down the angle well and seemed to pre mediate him trying to curl it into the far corner and stuck out his left hand to keep it at 1-1. Other than a long, hopeful and inaccurate Challinor shot that was to be the last real action of the half. Damian Batt replaced Paul Lorraine at the break (presumably through injury as the latter was involved in a nasty clash in the first half) but it was to be a dire second half from the Cards. They created their best and possibly only real chance in little under a minute. Gray doing brilliantly well to keep hold of the ball on the edge of the area and play it into Pattison who unselfishly tried to play in Marum from a tight angle but it was cleared off his foot with the goal gaping. Rushden replied quickly and on 49 minutes Osano burst forward and tried to play in Rankine only for it to be just hooked away from him and four minutes later Challinor burst down the right hand side of the area before striking narrowly over the bar. There were half chances for both teams at either end and Marum flicked a Pattison cross wide before Gasson had to make a last ditch clearance. On the hour, the dangerous Challinor met a corner at the back post and headed onto the roof of the net. A minute later and Rushden a great chance when Howell got down the left side again and was allowed to play in a low cross which Rankine latched onto. He turned smartly and smashed a left footed drive just wide of the far post. Challinor had a weak long range effort easily dealt with by Worner but in the 66th minute a ball forward bounced through the Cards defence and allowed Rankine to burst through, thankfully he pulled his shot woefully wide when he should have done a lot better. Finally, in the 71st minute, the home side got the goal that was always coming. With Woking sitting back further and further every minute and constantly giving the ball away needlessly it was no surprise. Once again it involved good work from Howell who was just too quick for Batt and the Cards defence. A neat ball from Woodhouse put him beyond the defence and his quick cross was met by Rankine inside the six yard box and even he couldn't miss from there, heading past Worner. Frank Gray brought Norville on for Marum almost immediately but in truth the Cards never looked like scoring or getting back into it. Gasson headed over from a free kick delivered by Gray who was then replaced by Sole whose best contribution was a woeful miss kick. It was Rushden who looked more likely to add to their lead with Challinor testing Worner from outside the area and Burgess forcing Worner to tip over following a woeful clearance from Batt. The best attempt the Cards had was when Norville turned his man on 85 minutes but his shot looked more likely to go out of the ground than in the goal. In the final minute, some more woeful defending allowed substitute striker Charles Ademeno to get clear but Worner did brilliantly to come out and smother his effort and then save his second attempt from close range before catching Woodhouse's chip shot. The four minutes injury time was then cut to about two after Ademeno appeared to be seriously hurt by the football following a Worner clearance but in truth the referee did the Cards fans a favour as they could have played all weekend without scoring an equaliser. There's not really many positives from this one other than a fantastic strike from Pattison who played ok and Worner who did well enough in goal and made a couple of good saves. Not only were there poor individual performances (Quamina and Batt spring immediately to mind) but the team didn't looked comfortable at all and looked unsure about the formation. Neither Ruby nor Gasson are full backs, especially the latter, and it showed. Not only that but there was too much backing off and not enough willingness to work hard and get the ball back or to keep it with sloppy passes and a lack of movement a factor all game. Three league defeats in a row against teams in the bottom half. Very disappointing. Woking (4-4-2ish):
Worner; Ruby, Lorraine (Batt 46), Hutchinson, Gasson; Pattison, Gray (Sole 79), Quamina, Bunce; Marum (Norville 73), Morgan.
Man of the Match: Ross Worner - didn't look like he could do much about either goal and made some good saves at the end. Moment of the Match: Charles Ademeno's fantastic timewasting having been hurt by a football. It didn't even hit him full in the face! Attendance: 1,335 (117 from Woking). |
