Woking under-18s were crowned Midweek Floodlit County Cup Champions after a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Kingstonian.

“Going back to the first round of the competition, we had a real belief that, with this group of players, we could go all the way and win it,” said academy manager Matt Winter.

“The boys are jubilant; they deserve that.

“We were outstanding at putting bodies on the line and defending our goal like our lives depended on it.”

A fast start from Woking saw them have the better of the opening chances, with Calum Mathieson and Jack Tricker both having efforts blocked on eight minutes, before Amario Malhotra’s strike from the edge of the area was saved shortly afterwards.

Leo Christophers threaded a pass through to Will Ledbury in the 20th minute, and Ledbury forced a smart save from Kingstonian’s goalkeeper.

Woking keeper Aaron Sings was called into action shortly afterwards, making a fine double save when he got down to his right to keep out a Kingstonian free kick before reacting to block the follow-up.

Ollie Rigby broke the deadlock for Woking in the 28th minute. Joel Jennison-Leppa’s delivery was headed back into the goalmouth, where Rigby tapped the ball over the line to give Woking the lead.

The Cards doubled their advantage in the 41st minute. Malhotra’s free kick found Jennison-Leppa at the back post, whose header was palmed away by Kingstonian’s keeper, with Mathieson reacting quickest to tap home from the goalmouth and make it 2-0.

Woking were forced to soak up pressure for much of the second half, as their opponents fought relentlessly to get back into the game.

Kingstonian’s biggest chance in the opening stages of the second half arrived in the 53rd minute, when a delivery across the face of goal only needed to be touched home, but the effort was mistimed.

Kingstonian halved their deficit in the 72nd minute, when a quick move forward saw Nima Ghandalo slot the ball through the defence for TJ Aiyegbeni, who drove his effort past Sings.

The goal made for a nervy end to the game for the Cards.

Kingstonian did create some chances in the closing stages as they pushed for a late leveller. A header at the back post in the 79th minute went narrowly off target, before an excellent delivery in the 88th minute was fired over the bar at the back post.

A long seven minutes of stoppage time followed, with Kingstonian holding on to belief right up until the full-time whistle. Kingstonian nearly equalised when a delivery was headed narrowly off target in the 95th minute.

Kingstonian won a free kick in the 97th minute and sent everyone, including their keeper, up the pitch, but Sings held the effort well and the full-time whistle followed shortly afterwards to confirm Woking’s under-18s as cup champions. Goalscorer Mathieson won the player of the match award.

Elsewhere in the academy, the first years, playing as Westfield, won 4-1 at home against Ash United in the Allied Counties Youth League West Division on Tuesday, March 24. On Wednesday, March 25, the Elite Development Squad won 2-1 away from home against Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League Academy South.

Finally, on Thursday, March 26, the under-17s won 3-1 at home against South Park in the Isthmian Youth League Central Division.

By Holly Porter