Woking came back from two goals down against Eastleigh to seize all three points in a competitive National League Alliance encounter.

“The boys showed really good resilience as the first half went on, and the second half performance was unbelievable,” reflected academy coach George Doré following the turnaround victory.

Despite Eastleigh scoring the first two goals of the affair, Woking had a good chance to open the scoring in the early stages. It was Zack Rhioui who found himself unmarked in the box with the ball at his feet, but his second-minute effort was too close to Eastleigh’s Luke Dochniak, who made a comfortable save with his feet.

It was then Eastleigh who proved threatening, shaking the frame of the Woking goal in the fourth minute, and forcing James Moore into early action before their opener. Eastleigh took the lead in the 15th minute, with Vincent Banks receiving the ball in the centre of the box for the visitors, and clipping the inside of the post to guide the ball into the bottom corner.

Woking saw their deficit doubled in the 27th minute, with a free kick from Finlay Murray smashing the crossbar of Moore’s goal. Freddie Beeson brought the rebound down on his chest and fired past Moore from the edge of the box to double Eastleigh’s advantage.

The Cards came close to reducing the deficit on the half-hour mark, with Louie Boyle’s low cross having worked its way through the box to Timothy Francis. The first-time effort, however, made contact with only the post.

Woking got one back in the 35th minute, courtesy of a pinpoint effort. It was George Loader’s initial blocked shot which saw the ball fall to Rhioui, and he did well to steer an effort into the top left corner to see Woking end the half just one goal adrift.

An early second-half chance from Frankie Bushby saw a 51st-minute free kick force a fingertip save, as the Cards pushed for a leveller.

That equaliser came in the 74th minute, with Loader’s effort taking a favourable deflection away from Dochniak to draw the sides level. With little over 15 minutes to play, Woking then pushed on for the winner.

Will Richards was introduced late on and nearly fired the Cards ahead within a minute of entering the field. Richards’ curling effort in the 81st minute appeared to be destined for the bottom right corner, but a fantastic reaction save from Dochniak denied the substitute.

Late action saw a 90th-minute effort from Loader tipped over the bar by the fingertips of Dochniak, which seemed like the final opportunity to win it.

Three minutes into stoppage time, however, Jack Tricker changed that narrative, with Loader finding the substitute in the goalmouth. Tricker calmly slotted the ball home to win it for his side, as a far more desirable second-half performance saw the Cards earn all three points from the National League Alliance contest.

Elsewhere in the academy, the Elite Development Squad enjoyed a week off, while the first years, playing as Westfield in the Allied Counties Youth League, were dominant in a 6-2 away win against Eversley & California on Wednesday, November 12. On Thursday, November 13, Woking progressed to the next round of the Suburban League Cup with a 4-1 win over Molesey FC Reserves.

By Holly Porter