Wealdstone 0 – 1 Woking
Wealdstone0 - 1
WokingWealdstone fell to a narrow defeat at The Vale this evening against fellow National League strugglers Woking, with a late goal stealing all three points for the visitors.
Moussa Diarra’s 86th minute winner proved to be the difference between the two sides as the Cardinals edged the Stones in a tight contest.
Manager Stuart Maynard made three changes to the side that were convincingly beaten by Weymouth on Saturday, with Daniel Bowry, Connor Smith and Danny Parish returning to the starting line-up, and new signing Craig Fasanmade being named on the bench.
The Stones were quick out of the traps, with defender Jack Cawley curling a left-footed effort narrowly over the crossbar in the fourth minute.
Wealdstone continued to play on the front foot and hit the target again in the 18th minute when Jacob Mendy whipped in a dangerous corner to the far post and Riley Harbottle connected well to force a solid save from Woking’s Craig Ross.
With a string of six corners in an 11 minute period, the Stones looked like they might break the deadlock, however they were unable to capitalise and went into halftime level with the Cardinals.
Dennon Lewis was introduced for the home side just after the break and had an instant impact, heading just wide of the target with his first touch after a pin-point cross from Bowry. A minute later, the forward was slid through by Parish, but could only fire his effort over the crossbar.
The Cardinals were agonisingly close to scoring themselves in the 52nd minute as Max Kretzschmar managed to find Malachi Napa just inside the box, with the attacker firing just over Harry Isted’s crossbar.
In the 70th minute, the Stones threatened again; the energetic Lewis found space and hit a low driven strike, but Ross was on hand to make a solid save.
With six minutes remaining, Kretzschmar managed to beat Wealdstone’s offside trap, prompting Isted to produce a trademark smart save to preserve the score line.
It looked as though the Stones were going to hang on for an important point, but Diarra pounced in the box and tapped home a late winner for the visitors in the 86th minute.
Wealdstone return to action next Tuesday 30th March as they travel to the Damson Park to face Solihull Moors, in a 7.45pm kickoff.
WEALDSTONE: Isted, Harbottle, Cawley, Okimo (c), Bowry, Charles, Phillips, Smith, Mendy (Fasanmade 85), Parish (Green 67), Lafayette (Lewis 47). Subs not used: Askew, Gondoh.
WOKING: Ross, Block, Gerring, Diarra, Casey (c), Cooper, Dempsey, Kretzschmar, Napa (Hodges 71), Jarvis (Smith 77), Dalby (Muir 80). Subs not used: Ferdinand, Lofthouse.
Report by Nicole Cho-Yee
Stuart Maynard post match interview HERE
Adam Williams match pics HERE
Jon Taffel match pics HERE
Match highlights HERE
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