Oxford vs Woking

Woking started their South Premier 2 West campaign under the supervision of new coach, Ryan Casson with a narrow loss to newly formed Oxford OBU.

Casson’s new look side with league debut’s for Graham Garret-Lang, Craig Sutherland, James Fookes, Gonzalo Ayala and Woking’s youngest talent, Will DiBiase looked set to make a great start after a bright pre-season campaign.

It was the visitors who made the most of the opening minutes of the game and looked the stronger side. The early pressure was rewarded with a goal. Tim Ming, making his first appearance for 8 seasons was on hand to find the Andy Pike in his natural habitat at the far post. A trademark rollout finish put The visitors in front.

The remainder of the half was played on the back foot and Oxford equalised just five minutes later through a deflected effort. On the stroke of half time, Woking were punished further after a controversial short corner was awarded to Oxford. To add insult to injury, Max Deeley was wrong-footed by the drag-flick that slipped through his legs.

The second half started much like the first with Casson’s halftime team talk making the right impact. After a few failed attempts at short corners, Woking were finally level after Ayala earned yet another corner. The flick from Garret-Lang deflected past the nervous Oxford keeper by skipper Tom McLean.

Woking looked the most likely to grab all three points, but were punished with yet another unfortunate short corner for the hosts. Midfield super-star, Mat Cockerham made the initial save, wearing the ball on his finger, only to see the Oxford striker sweep the ball over the line. Cockerham’s finger in quite a mess, he was forced to leave the field.

The final 10 minutes were all Woking, but through a number of we’ll times interceptions, the visitors were left frustrated and walked away empty handed.

Casson commented: “We have had a good pre-season and have started looking like a good team. Today, we looked a bit nervous and didn’t quite hit top gear, but the signs are positive and the future of this team looks bright. Not just because we were wearing our ridiculously bright new third strip.”

MOM - Mat Cockerham.