Re: Woking v Dartford (Tue 5th Feb, 7.45pm)
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 1:39 pm
Great effort from our boys last night and a deserved victory. This was the most fun I've had at a football match since Coyley and Flanners took charge. Great scenes at the end, it meant a lot to players, managers and supporters alike.
The ref was awful, denying us a clear and obvious penalty, losing control and making a right arse of himself, especially with the first sending off. It was only thanks to our bench being on the ball and spotting that he'd shown a yellow card to the same bloke twice, but even then, it took the clueless ref another 5 minutes of squabbling before he sorted it out and eventually sent the guy off. Woking seemed to find this all very annoying, but the fact is they were two fully justified yellow cards and the only error made by the ref was in not initially showing the red. Of course the cynics amongst us might say that had he realised he was giving a second yellow, he might not have shown it at all, and knowing how referees' minds work that may well be true. The ref completely lost control of the game and for a while it looked like it might turn REALLY ugly. Woking are their own worst enemy, they lacked discipline and contributed greatly to their own downfall by ridiculously over-reacting to everything and inflaming every situation. The second sending off being a great example of such.
It was very pleasing to see, from the team selection and the way in which we played, that we had come to try and win rather than just avoid defeat. Woking started very strongly in the first half but the Darts weathered the early storm and gradually got a foothold and finished the half very much in the ascendancy. We could so easily have gone in 1-0 up at half-time as Charlie should clearly have been awarded a penalty and in the 30 seconds that followed, we had 5 or 6 chances to score in quick succession and it was almost miraculous how Woking somehow eventually scrambled the ball away. Nevertheless, it was a solid first half for Darts with Ben and Ryno providing some decent service for the front two. The second half was entertaining for many different reasons. The comedy ref really came into his own with the sending off debacle, but both sides had their chances to score and both defences stood firm and Bailey Vose made some very fine saves. Although a 0-0 draw would have been a decent result, it was great to see Darts continue to push for the victory. Up until the second sending off, it was a very good team performance however we seemed to lose our way a little when confronted with the seemingly easier task of playing against 9 men. The last 10 minutes or so were very frustrating as we just didn't seem to be taking advantage of having two extra players on the pitch, but thankfully, right at the last minute Ben and Ronnie combined to snatch the deserved winner.
Last night was great fun and it was great to be there but I can't pretend I look forward to going to Woking FC. It's always been a hostile environment, even though we'd previously never won there. They've more than a few thugs amongst their number and to be frank, I don't think their club has ever acknowledged or faced up to the problem. Their stewards are unfriendly and on past visits have been quite confrontational, but I guess that's a consequence of who they have to deal with. The fact that they feel the need to frisk everyone on entry tells its own story. So it makes a change to come home with a smile on my face. A very sweet victory at a place where nothing ever seemed to go our way in the past.
One of the hardest games ever to pick a MOTM as it was an all-round good team performance. I changed my mind about 5 times before going for Bailey Vose, he didn't put a foot wrong and made a couple of great stops that kept us in the game, but I imagine the votes could be scattered around quite a bit.
The ref was awful, denying us a clear and obvious penalty, losing control and making a right arse of himself, especially with the first sending off. It was only thanks to our bench being on the ball and spotting that he'd shown a yellow card to the same bloke twice, but even then, it took the clueless ref another 5 minutes of squabbling before he sorted it out and eventually sent the guy off. Woking seemed to find this all very annoying, but the fact is they were two fully justified yellow cards and the only error made by the ref was in not initially showing the red. Of course the cynics amongst us might say that had he realised he was giving a second yellow, he might not have shown it at all, and knowing how referees' minds work that may well be true. The ref completely lost control of the game and for a while it looked like it might turn REALLY ugly. Woking are their own worst enemy, they lacked discipline and contributed greatly to their own downfall by ridiculously over-reacting to everything and inflaming every situation. The second sending off being a great example of such.
It was very pleasing to see, from the team selection and the way in which we played, that we had come to try and win rather than just avoid defeat. Woking started very strongly in the first half but the Darts weathered the early storm and gradually got a foothold and finished the half very much in the ascendancy. We could so easily have gone in 1-0 up at half-time as Charlie should clearly have been awarded a penalty and in the 30 seconds that followed, we had 5 or 6 chances to score in quick succession and it was almost miraculous how Woking somehow eventually scrambled the ball away. Nevertheless, it was a solid first half for Darts with Ben and Ryno providing some decent service for the front two. The second half was entertaining for many different reasons. The comedy ref really came into his own with the sending off debacle, but both sides had their chances to score and both defences stood firm and Bailey Vose made some very fine saves. Although a 0-0 draw would have been a decent result, it was great to see Darts continue to push for the victory. Up until the second sending off, it was a very good team performance however we seemed to lose our way a little when confronted with the seemingly easier task of playing against 9 men. The last 10 minutes or so were very frustrating as we just didn't seem to be taking advantage of having two extra players on the pitch, but thankfully, right at the last minute Ben and Ronnie combined to snatch the deserved winner.
Last night was great fun and it was great to be there but I can't pretend I look forward to going to Woking FC. It's always been a hostile environment, even though we'd previously never won there. They've more than a few thugs amongst their number and to be frank, I don't think their club has ever acknowledged or faced up to the problem. Their stewards are unfriendly and on past visits have been quite confrontational, but I guess that's a consequence of who they have to deal with. The fact that they feel the need to frisk everyone on entry tells its own story. So it makes a change to come home with a smile on my face. A very sweet victory at a place where nothing ever seemed to go our way in the past.
One of the hardest games ever to pick a MOTM as it was an all-round good team performance. I changed my mind about 5 times before going for Bailey Vose, he didn't put a foot wrong and made a couple of great stops that kept us in the game, but I imagine the votes could be scattered around quite a bit.
