Woking returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory against Southampton under-21s in the National League Cup group stage.

The Cards raced into a two-goal lead in the first half and held on in the second to pick up a deserved win at the Laithwaite Community Stadium.

The visitors had the first chance of the evening in the eighth minute when Cards keeper Will Jaaskelainen’s clearance went straight to Moses Sesay, who fired his right-foot shot just over the bar.

The Cards went close on 18 minutes when Jack Turner played in Josh Kelly, but Kelly couldn’t create a shooting chance and his poke across goal was cleared.

Woking had another chance in the 26th minute when Jake Forster-Caskey’s free kick picked out Timi Odusina, but his header was straight at Saints keeper Josh Jeffries who held it comfortably.

The Cards broke the deadlock on 29 minutes when Turner’s ball over the top found Kelly, who took a touch before producing a composed right-foot finish into the bottom left-hand corner of the net to score his first Woking goal.

The hosts almost doubled their advantage two minutes later when Forster-Caskey sprayed the ball out to Kelly on the right, who played the ball back inside to Matt Ward, but Ward’s shot was well saved by Jeffries.

The Cards did go 2-0 up in the 33rd minute when Turner’s ball over the top was headed into his own net by Abdulhalim Okunola past a stranded Jeffries.

Southampton nearly scored on 44 minutes when Romeo Akachukwu’s right-foot shot was deflected behind for a corner.

Woking boss Neal Ardley made a quadruple substitution at half-time with Aaron Drewe, Tunji Akinola, Harry Beautyman and Jamie Andrews replacing Tariq Hinds, Odusina, Forster-Caskey and Aiden O'Brien.

The Saints pulled a goal back in the 54th minute when Sufianu Dibaga was played in and produced a composed finish past Jaaskelainen.

The visitors nearly equalised three minutes later when Sesay’s low shot was well parried away by Jaaskelainen.

The Cards almost went 3-1 up on 63 minutes when a free-flowing move ended with Beautyman hitting a low shot which was superbly tipped behind for a corner by Jeffries.

Ardley made his fifth and final substitution of the evening in the 70th minute, with Joden Trickett making his Woking debut and replacing Kelly.

Southampton almost equalised on 85 minutes when Sesay’s low shot was well held by Jaaskelainen, but the Cards held on for a deserved win.

Next up for the Cards is a home game against Forest Green Rovers in the National League on Saturday, September 20 (3pm kick-off).