Under-21s beaten at Woking

Our Under-21s produced a much-improved second-half performance, but two first-half goals from Woking were enough for our hosts to run out 2-0 winners in a friendly encounter at Kingfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The National League side were on the front foot from the start and capitalised on a dominant first 45 as they went into the break two to the good. Captain Aiden O’Brien headed in the opener just after the half-hour mark before Jack Turner doubled their advantage six minutes from the break.

However, come the second period, after a number of changes at the break, we certainly took the game to Woking and carved out some fantastic opportunities to get ourselves back in the game - notably Oliver Irow being denied twice in quick succession by Craig Ross - but we were just unable to find the breakthrough against a resilient defence.

Jamie Andrews should have broken the deadlock on six minutes but he failed to show composure inside the box, lifting his effort over the diving Sam Archer and also over the bar, before our number one was called back into action shortly after, getting down low to his left to tip Turner’s effort around the post. Sam Ashford rifled a low shot past the far post before Woking’s pressure eventually prevailed just after the half-hour mark, O’Brien heading home from the centre of the box after a perfect delivery from Aaron Drewe on the right.

Having fallen behind, we looked for a response shortly after as Dan Batty saw his close-range effort blocked by the two centre-backs inside the six-yard box, before the Cardinals doubled their lead six minutes from the break with Drewe the provider once again, this time his low cross found Turner just inside the 18-yard box to slot the ball home.

Ellis Lehane, who was one of a number of players introduced at the break after featuring for the first team against Wycombe earlier in the day, fired wide from inside the box just minutes after the restart as we started brightly in the second half. Yusuf Akhamrich’s strike from edge of the box tested Ross while, at the other end, Pele Arganese-McDermott was in the right place at the right time to clear Ashford’s effort off the line after the forward’s original attempt was saved by Archer.

We continued to push for a way back into the game as Luca Williams-Barnett dragged a low effort wide of the far post after some lovely footwork to create space inside the box before Irow was denied twice by Ross in the space of a minute, with both attempts in and around the centre of the box but Woking’s shot stopper reacted quickly to get down low to both. Looking to halve the deficit in the closing stages of the game, Williams-Barnett's cross from the right was met by Tyrese Hall at the back but he was unable to direct his header on target as we couldn't capitalise on a strong second-half showing.

Match data

Goals: Woking – O’Brien 31, Turner 39.

Referee: Harry Wager.

Venue: Kingfield Stadium, Woking.

Weather: Sunny, 23 degrees.

Attendance: 1,526.