Woking’s Elite Development Squad put eight past Maidstone United to send them through to the second round of the National League Academy Cup.

“The aim of the group is to get to the final,” stated academy manager Matt Winter after a comprehensive 8-2 victory in Kent.

Although “one of the hardest tests on paper”, having dropped points in the league at the Gallagher Stadium earlier in the season, a first-half double from Joden Trickett gave the Surrey side a two-goal cushion at the break.

The 30th minute saw the number nine open the scoring, after he chased a ball threaded through to him from Lucas Boxall, and powered an effort in at the near post in his first of the afternoon.

His second came seven minutes later, with Tom Dryer being brought down in the box, and Trickett standing over the spot-kick. Keeping his composure, he sent Maidstone’s keeper the wrong way to double the advantage.

It did not take long after the restart for the scoring to continue. In the 49th minute, Bailey Cotton drove forward from defence and threaded the ball through to Dryer, who slotted home.

A fourth shortly followed, with Boxall going for goal in the 54th minute, smacking the post with his effort, with the rebound driven home first time by Kooshan Hayati.

Smith was the next to get his name on the scoresheet. Quincy Patterson picked up a loose ball in Woking’s defensive third and switched the ball excellently to Smith, whose driven run forward was rounded off with a 58th-minute finish through the legs of the Maidstone keeper, his first of the season for the Elite Development Squad.

A quick-fire double from Dryer secured Woking’s sixth and seventh goals. In the 61st minute, he picked up the ball on the halfway line and carried it forward, before calmly slotting home from the edge of the penalty area. Just five minutes later, Dryer rose highest in the box and nodded home a corner ball to complete his hat-trick.

Maidstone did get one back in the 74th minute, with a ball in the centre of the box being slotted home, but almost immediately after the restart, the referee pointed to the spot once again for the Cards. This time it was Page who was brought down in attacking action and who then converted from the spot with a 76th-minute penalty that nestled into the bottom right-hand corner, despite Maidstone’s keeper going the right way.

Attempting to play out from the back, the visitors were dispossessed by Maidstone in the 80th minute, who forced a second goal from close range, but ultimately the game had long been won by a clinical second-half showing from the Cards.

“We’ll take it round by round, of course,” reflected Winter after the game, “but we’ve got really high aspirations with the cup competition.”

Elsewhere in the academy, Woking lost 3-2 against Carshalton Athletic in National League Alliance Division F on Wednesday, November 5, while Woking’s under-18s beat Metropolitan Police 3-2 in the Isthmian Football League under-18s Central Division on Thursday, November 6.

Anyone who would like more information on Woking Football Club’s Elite Development Squad should visit the club’s website at: https://wokingfc.co.uk/teams/academy/ for further details.

By Holly Porter