Woking 0-1 Chesterfield – Woking outclassed by stronger Spireites

Woking fell to defeat at home to Chesterfield in the early 12:30 kick-off, as an Ollie Banks penalty was enough to give the away side all three points. Despite the away side being the much better team, The Cards will be disappointed that Padraig Amond’s second-half strike was disallowed for offside, despite the Irishmen being a few yards in front of the last man.

The game got off to a flyer as most people expected when Dan Moss played a brilliant ball across the box which was cleared for a corner. From that, Andrew Dallas countered and found Ryan Colclough who just fired wide of the post.

Moss went on to have a shaky first half with a few loose touches and miss understanding moments but redeemed himself when he prevented a certain goal with a fabulous last-ditch tackle inside the penalty area.

Luke Wilkinson made way just 20 minutes into the game after going down with an injury and was replaced by the Crewe Alexandra loanee Billy Sass-Davies. The 32-year-old, who has a history of calf issues, will now be reassessed after a recent knock just four games ago.

The standard of refereeing was extremely poor throughout large parts of the game and it became clear when Rohan Ince was booked for a perfectly good challenge which saw him win the ball.

The away side took the lead just past the hour mark after Jim Kellermann’s high foot caught Laurence Maguire in the face, earning them a spot-kick. Banks stepped up and finished down the middle, beating Will Jaaskelainen.

HT: 0-1

In the second half, Woking built a perfect counter-attack of their own, however, once the ball made its way into the box, a tap-in was all that was needed, unfortunately the ball bounced off Rohan Ince and went out for a goal kick.

The Spireites nearly doubled their lead when brilliant pressing from Colclough saw him win the ball on the edge of the box. His eventual shot was brilliantly tipped over by Jaaskelainen.

Just past the hour mark, Solomon Nwabuokei played in Amond who went on to lob Ross Fitzsimons but the linesmen raised his flag for offside. Watching the replay, he was kept onside by Ash Palmer. A real disappointment.

Chesterfield’s best chance came when Dallas was clear through on goal and should have wrapped the game up but missed the target from five yards out.

FT: 0-1

Woking manager Darren Sarll said after the game, “I thought they [Chesterfield] were better than us at things that we have been better than everyone at.”

He further went on to speak about the official Lewis Smith (who coincidentally managed the reverse fixture between these two sides.) “He was really bad with some of the holding in the penalty area, but when we play with some fragility about us then we need our players to be stronger.”

The Cards next game is on the road against bottom-of-the-table Maidstone United. #COYCards

Woking Starting XI: Jaaskelainen, Lofthouse (61), Casey, Cuthbert, Wilkinson (18), Korboa (60), Amond, Moss, Browne, Kellermann, Ince

Subs: Ross, McNerney, Nwabuokei (60), Dackers (61), Sass-Davies (18)

Chesterfield Starting XI: Fitzsimons, King, Palmer, Grimes, Maguire, Jones, Banks, Mandeville, Dallas (80), Colclough (80), Quigley (90+4)

Subs: Sheckleford, Oldaker, Uchegbulam (80), Dobra (80), McCallum (90+4)

Attendance: 3,119

Man of the Match: Scott Cuthbert