November 18, 2023
With the opportunity to meet-up with an old school friend today, the decision was made to meet some way between where we both live, so it was a first ever visit for me to Dorking Wanderers. My only other visits to Dorking were to play cricket !
Today’s match was a meeting between 18th vs 17th in the National League, with both sides on 21 points.
Boreham Wood
Boreham Wood were covered in these diaries on the August Bank Holiday when they visited Oxford City and after being the better side for 60 minutes, they collapsed after conceding the first goal of the game, and went on to lose 0-4.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/08/oxford-city-4-0-boreham-wood-att-1034.html
After that match they were in 16th place in the table with a 1-3-2 record. Wood supporters pointed out to a lengthy injury list and fully expected their side’s form to improve as their players returned to action.
Defender Billy Sass-Davies arrived on loan from Crewe and midfielder Matt Robinson on loan from Woking. However, Wood followed up the defeat in Oxford with only one win in 7. Results have slowly improved since then with victories over Maidenhead ( A 1-0 ), Hartlepool ( H 1-0 ) and Dagenham and Redbridge ( A 3-1 ).
They were currently unbeaten in 4 league games but were hammered 1-5 at Eastleigh in the First Round of the FA Cup. Their last match was a 1-1 home draw with Bromley in which they played they played the second half with 10 men after a second yellow card to centre-back Jamal Fyfield just before the interval.
The Wood starting XI against Bromley showed 5 changes to the side that took to the field at Oxford City, with returns from injury for Balanta, Payne and Sousa, plus the two loanees. Only striker Appiah was not part of the matchday squad, due to injury, and Portuguese midfielder Eric Sousa grabbed an equalizer 10 minutes from time.
At the start of today they sat in 17th with a 4-9-6 record
Dorking Wanderers
Dorking began the day in 18th place with a 6-3-10 record, and at home their form was 3-2-5.
Home wins had been registered over Southend ( 2-1 ), Wealdstone ( 3-1 ) and Aldershot ( 2-1 ), whilst on the road victories were achieved at Halifax ( 1-0 ), Ebbsfleet ( 1-0 ) and Hartlepool ( 2-0 )
However, Wanderers were on a dismal run in which they had lost 6 of their last 7 games, including a 0-2 defeat at Isthmian League Horsham in 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, after which the rant of their owner/manager Marc White went viral on the internet. Slagging off his players, his comments included calling them “absolute s***” and “I ain’t taking blame for that shower of s***”.
I wouldn’t still be playing for the club if such insults had been directed at me, and looking at their subsequent results, perhaps the players were getting their message across in a different way. Last time out they lost 0-6 at Gateshead, where the kindest description would be that they were woeful.
Dorking Wanderers were formed in 1999, and despite being in Surrey, they started in the Crawley and District League, and won 12 promotions in 23 years to reach the National League. My friend played against them in the West Sussex League, from which they progressed through the Sussex County League, Isthmian League and Conference South to the National League.
Wanderers moved to Meadowbank in 2018, previously home to disbanded Dorking FC, and after several refurbishments, the ground now has a capacity of 3,000 and an artificial pitch.
There were several recognizable names in the Wanderers squad. These included two former Crawley Town players, centre-back Tony Craig ( also ex-Millwall, Brentford, Crystal Palace & Bristol Rovers ) and midfielder George Francomb ( also ex-AFC Wimbledon & Hibernian ).
Striker Ryan Seager scored 27 goals for Hungerford in National League South in 2021/22, when Alfie Rutherford was the leagues’ top scorer with 30 goals for Dorking. Shortly after, Rutherford suffered an ACL injury and then underwent heart surgery. After over a year out of the game, and a short long spell at Bognor Regis to return to full fitness, Rutherford has returned to the Dorking side and made two substitute appearances. As a result of Rutherford’s return to the side, Seager was released last week and signed for Havant & Waterlooville.
Keeper Harrison Male was with Worthing last season but missed their play-off defeat at Oxford City due to injury. Striker Jason Prior has been prolific in non-league circles, in particular for Bognor Regis and Havant & Waterlooville, as well as Dorking, and was Wanderers leading scorer this season with 8 goals in the league. Experienced defender Barry Fuller has played over 450 games in the football league for Gillingham, AFC Wimbledon, Barnet and Stevenage.
Match-day Information
Online tickets for the game were £18 and £16 for concessions, and the matchday programme was £3, which thankfully was mostly in large print so I could read without needing to reach for my glasses !
After a morning of rain, the weather at the 15.00 kick-off was dry but with dark clouds overhead, but thankfully the rain stayed away. Temperatures were around 15 degrees.
Bet365 made Boreham Wood 5/6 odds-on favourites, with Dorking at 16/5 and the draw at 23/10
I was able to park in the large car park adjacent to the Meadowbank stadium, where 3 hours parking cost £3.30
After entering the ground at turnstile 2, we were able to buy a programme and get a cup of tea. We didn’t enter the bar so can’t comment on what beers were on tap. Behind the closest goal to the entrance was a covered stand but nearly all of the seats had reserved stickers on them. However, for the game today a number of these were unoccupied.
Next to this stand was a covered terrace where the local “boot-boys” gathered to cheer on Dorking. We opted for a space on the hard standing alongside the far side of the pitch, opposite the main stand that straddled the half-way line.
The match was segregated, with 130 away fans announced in the one-third of the main stand allocated plus the hard standing from there up to the corner flag. The section behind the other goal was more hard standing.
Dorking’s new signing during the week, left-sided defender Haydn Hollis from Ebbsfleet United, started the match. Four other changes were made to the side that started at Gateshead, with forwards Prior and Rutherford coming to the side, along with defender Fuller and midfielder Callum Kennedy.
Boreham Wood signed winger Charles Claydon from Wealdstone during the week, whose fans on their forum didn’t seem too upset by his departure but recognized he may not have been used in his best position. With Fyfield suspended after his red card last week-end, this was their only change from the starting XI against Bromley.
Dorking were playing in their usual white shirts with one red stripe down the front, with blue shorts and red socks. Boreham Wood were in a change of all grey.
Match Report
The start of the match was uneventful with the first piece of goalmouth action occurring the fifth minute when a low cross from the left wing by Kennedy was missed by Wood defender Bush but hit Dorking forward Prior and rebounded to safety.
Three minutes later Dorking launched a long throw into the Boreham Wood 6 yard box but again it rebounded harmlessly to safety.
Not much else happened in the opening twenty minutes, as both sides took a physical approach to the game, and there was a marked lack of finesse to the play, and there had not been a shot on goal. Neither side seemed capable of stringing three passes together. Indeed, my friend inquired if they were actually called “Boring Wood”…..
Wanderers forward Prior then went down with an injury, forcing Dorking to make an early substitution.
Wood did briefly spring to life but after a nice move Balanta teed up Marsh but the shot from the edge of the area was at the keeper and easily saved.
Wood keeper Ashmore must have been reading the spectators’ minds about the lack of action, and promptly passed straight to Wanderers’ forward Rutherford, who with no Wood defender near him strolled forward and placed the ball into the roof of the net to open the scoring, and register his first goal for Dorking since his return from injury.
Boreham Wood were stirred into a response, with first Balanta sending a long-range effort a few feet over the bar, and when Dorking took their turn to give the ball away in defence, Ndlovu was unable to take advantage and was tackled after dithering.
The shortage of quality in the game continued, and an optimistic 35 yard effort from Ndlovu was comfortably saved by keeper Male. Finally, the crowd witnessed some good play as Wood debutant Claydon made a strong run and cut-back from the left-wing to set-up Balanta, but the side-footed shot from the edge of the area was poor and Male made a comfortable low save.
Dorking’s Muitt then made a promising run down the right-hand touchline, but his cross was just a fraction too high for substitute Ottaway. Dorking fashioned another half-decent move with Francomb getting into space on the left, but his low cross was blocked for a corner.
With 38 minutes played, Wood won their first corner, from which a great header from Marsh forced an excellent low save from Male. The follow-up corner was wasted.
The game was slowly coming to life and a low cross from the left from Claydon flashed across the 6 yard box without any Wood attacker able to get onto the end of it. Wood then actually strung together more than 6 passes, ending with Marsh firing innocuously over the bar.
Dorking responded by threading a pass forward for Rutherford to run onto, but rather than attempting a long-range effort, he cut back inside and was crowded out.
The first half ended with Payne sending a free-kick from a decent position harmlessly wide for a goal-kick to Dorking.
At the half-time interval Wanderers enjoyed a one goal advantage but had down precious little to deserve the lead after a desperately poor first half.
Wood were probably red the riot act at half-time, and came out looking like a totally different side as they took the game to Dorking, with Balanta and Sousa starting to see a lot more of the ball.
Within a minute of the restart, giant centre-back Ilesanmi brushed past several Wanderers defenders on a spirited run, but after running into a dead end, the ball was reworked to Robinson but the shot was blocked by a defender.
With the game becoming more open Dorking’s Moore advanced from half-way but after laying off to Ottaway, the control was poor and the chance was gone.
Back at the other end, a Boreham Wood free-kick led to a bout of head-tennis inside the Dorking area, ending with a header from Sass-Davies being cleared off the line by Ottaway helping out his defence.
Wood were starting to dominate and after an inviting cross from Claydon, Marsh headed a golden opportunity over from 6 yards. Marsh then saw an ambitious long-range effort blocked, then Robinson sent a 20 yard left footed attempt narrowly over the bar.
As the pressure built, Marsh's mazy run enabled him to slot a through ball to Balanta, but the Colombian’s shot forced a decent save by Male low down by his near post.
In a rare foray into the Wood half, Male’s goal-kick found Francomb in oceans of space on the left, and after a penetrating run and lay-off, Fuller’s cross sailed narrowly over the far post. It probably looked closer than it was, and keeper Ashmore looked to have it covered.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, Bush delivered a long throw into the Wanderers area to which Marsh’s acrobatic volley clipped the top of the bar and went over. Another left-wing cross was headed over by Ndlovu but Wood finally grabbed a deserved equalizer in the 72nd minute. A flowing move saw Ndlovu release Claydon on the left and this time the cross ended in the back of the net after a close-range header from Whelan gave keeper Male no chance.
The goal had been coming, and Wood now appeared to be the favourites to go on and win the game. Another long-throw from Bush was met by Abraham’s overhead kick, but Male again made a routine save. Whelan then played Abraham in on goal, but the substitute was forced wide and his low effort from just inside the area towards the near post was smartly pushed away for a corner by Male.
With 8 minutes left on the clock, Wood carelessly gave away a corner, and the delivery beyond the back post saw Hollis escape his marker and make a spectacular diving header across goal to restore Dorking’s lead against the run of play.
Boreham Wood tried to respond straight away, and Payne’s chip back into the area was chest-controlled by Sousa but his left-footed shot on the turn sailed about 20 yard wide.
As the Dorking defence then stood appealing in vain for offside, Abraham sped to the by-line but his low cross was forced off for a corner, leading to Male going down with a “tactical” injury despite play being no-where near him. When play eventually resumed, Ottaway again produced some vital defensive work to win a header at the expense of another corner.
When the next set-piece was swung into the Dorking area, Whelan theatrically fell to the flow in a sad attempt to win a penalty, but the referee was not conned by the acting so play continued.
Although 5 added minutes were played, Boreham Wood were unable to exert any more pressure, and Dorking comfortably saw out the closing stages to take three much needed points.
It was hard to evaluate today’s match. The first half was low on quality but Boreham Wood looked a different class in the second half. However, they were not clinical enough in front of goal and missed their chances. Roared on by some fantastic home support, Dorking stole a winner against the run of play and although not playing well, reversed the form book, and battled hard for their fans and manager.
With the win Dorking moved up to 15th in the National League table, whilst Boreham Wood slipped to 19th. However, in a desperately tight division, only 8 points separate 8th and 22nd !
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP16oraUqzs
Dorking Wanderers : Male –Fuller, Hollis, Kennedy - Muitt, J.Taylor, Pybus, Moore ( Gallagher), Francomb – Prior ( Ottaway ), Rutherford ( McShane )
Boreham Wood : Ashmore – Ilesanmi, Sass-Davies, Bush – Marsh, Robinson ( Whelan ), Sousa, Payne, Claydon ( Stephens ) – Balanta ( Abraham ), Ndlovu
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