Woking 0 Luton 4
A YEAR that started with the Cards popping champagne corks in celebration of their stand out 3-1 victory over Luton Town looks in serious danger of ending on a much more sober note as Woking conceded four without reply.
Outplayed for large swathes of this meeting with the Hatters, Woking put in a performance akin to their offering up at Macclesfield the previous Saturday and as they had earlier on in the campaign in the surprising home reverse to Gateshead.
Luton came to town with a 700-strong following and they saw their side cut through Woking with the gusto of a side very much on the up.
The top Hatters on the night were the trio of Mark Cullen, who bagged a brace, Alex Lacey who netted in the first half, and Andre Gray, capping a man of the match performance with a well-deserved goal in the second period.
“I felt that they started the brighter but we came into the game,” said Hill, who was in a surprisingly upbeat mood at full time.
“We were pressing and working hard and had a couple of very good chances (at 0-0).
“Gavin Williams had a chance which was saved by Mark Tyler and Giuseppe Sole had a shot which was deflected for a corner – I was very pleased with the first-half performance up until the 35-minute mark.” The 35th minute signalled the start of Woking’s collapse as Lacey added to Cullen’s 29th-minute goal.
One man to assess Cards’ latest loss more critically was Joe McNerney. He said: “A lot of things are going wrong at the moment – everything seems to be going against us and whether we play well or not we’re coming unstuck at the back and its hard to get out of this rut.
“There’s no fluency in the team at the moment but it will come. Our luck will change, and when we get a bit of momentum going we’ll be all right.”
True to form Hill tinkered with his starting line-up as he continues to search in vain for the combination that will crack the Conference safe; while Cards fans continue to try and solve their own puzzle of which pieces are going to be slotted into which holes next.
Cards made three personnel changes from Saturday’s much derided display up at Macclesfield. One enforced change saw Sole retaining his place up top, at the expense of Scott Rendell – ineligible against his parent club. New signing and ex-Card Darren Murphy pitched up straight into the starting XI to try and add some proven nous to the midfield.
Although the fanfare for the Irishman’s return may have to wait for another day one feels. The positional merry-go-round continued in full swing, as Ricketts took over from Adam Newton at right-back, thus pushing the ever-accommodating McNerney into the centre of the backline and so freeing Mike Cestor to push on to the left wing as Cards tried to make better use of his swashbuckling raids up field.
The first real chance of the game came Luton’s way on the quarter hour as Cullen latched on to a Luke Guttridge flick in between McNerney and John Nutter.
Cullen was smothered by the onrushing Sam Beasant, with Jack Parkinson reacting just ahead of Hatters forward Jake Howells to prevent the rebound going goal bound.
Kevin Betsy picked up the loose ball and carried the Cards into opposition territory; producing a neat cut-back from the byline for Williams. However the Welshman could only send the ball sailing over the roof of Kingfield Road End on the half-volley.
The visitors then began to impose themselves on the home side, with Howells again getting into the Cards 18-yard box, latching on to a lofted Gray ball over Ricketts from deep. Howells’ flashed volley-cross didn’t find a team-mate this time however.
As Woking became restricted to counter-attacking raids, Williams managed to slip the attentions of Luton’s man-mountain of a captain Ronnie Henry outside the 18-yard box. However the Cards forward’s finish lacked conviction as Tyler smothered the attempt comfortably in the Luton goal.
A Sole long-ranger forced Tyler into some more pressing action moments later, however Luton saw out the danger to take the lead on the half hour through a Cullen finish.
A pack of Cards failed to deal with a mis-hit corner at the near post and the bouncing ball was turned over the line inside the six yard box via a combination of Murphy and Cullen.
Luton pushed on from then and finished the first half with purpose; sensing a Woking side lacking in confidence and a genuine goal threat, and it wasn’t long until they had doubled their advantage, again via a corner.
This time, a deep delivery from the left was finished by fit-again striker Lacey inside the same right hand upright at the Lesley Gosden end. The ease with which he out jumped Cestor and McNerney caused heated debate within the Woking box.
With ref Lee Swabey’s lips pierced on his whistle to call half time, another Luton cross produced another goal; this the pick of the bunch.
Winger Guttridge sending over a missile of a cross seeking the run of Cullen, who powered home from eight-yards to give the cross the finish it deserved.
It was a case of déjà vu at the start of the second half for Cards, only this time in front of the Kingfield Road End, as another Guttridge-Cullen link-up saw the latter rattle the bar with a bullet header.
With olés from the travelling fans – bedecked in their airline sponsored shirts – ringing in his ears, and seeing his Woking side being overrun in all areas in the second half, Hill called for some energy from Anthony McNamee, George Frith and John Goddard from the bench after the hour point.
Sole (right) being unlucky to get the hook having chased lost causes all night, although there were times when the forward looked like he was being ejected from a nightclub by Luton’s bouncer-esque skipper Henry.
But Sole isn’t the only Woking forward to have worked the strikers’ graveyard shift this season, as McCallum, McNerney, Rendell et al will testify.
Woking fans did see what they yearn. A striker full of confidence, demanding the ball, and using it dangerously when in possession, getting the goal he deserved.
Unfortunately it was Hatters’ Gray getting in on the act. Slipping in between Ricketts and McNerney, Gray coolly finishing underneath the onrushing Beasant. Gray was graciously applauded by both sets of fans when withdrawn late on.
Cards mustered one late strike with Goddard whipping an effort towards the far top corner, only for Tyler to pluck it away at the last moment.
Luton can now start to rub shoulders with the giants at the top of the Conference, while Woking will have to strengthen their grip on the other end of the beanstalk or face the prospect of a long fall from a great height at the end of the campaign.
WOKING: Beasant, Nutter, McNerney, Parkinson, Cestor, Ricketts, Williams (Frith, 76mins), Betsy, Payne, Murphy (Goddard, 68mins) Sole (McNamee, 63mins).
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