City safe with dramatic draw at champions Woking

Woking FC  3 Truro City 3

By Rhod Mitchell, West Briton, images by Steve Rogers.
A superb display by City, in front of a crowd of more than 4,000 at champions Woking, gave them the point they needed to enure their place in Blue Square Bet South for next season.

Twice City twice trailed by two goals, but dug deep with goals by Andy Watkins, Arran Pugh and Les Afful denying the Surrey side what would have been their 30th win of the season.

Andy Watkins scored the first Truro goal

And the draw was enough to end their lingering fears of relegation without having to rely on any other clubs.

It has been a great performance by City boss Lee Hodges and his squad in very difficult season both on and off the field.

The Kingfield Stadium was packed to see Woking receive the trophy which they clinched last week.
And the home fans had plenty to cheer about as goals from Paris Cowan-Hall and Guiseppe Sole put them 2-0 up after 31 minutes.

But perhaps inspired by playing in front of such a big crowd, City hit back before the break when Andy Watkins ran on to a long ball from Scott Walker and finished well.

But when Cowan-Hall's headed his second goal of the game the break to make it 3-1 to Woking it looked too tough a task for the Tigers.

Arran Pugh climbs to score the second for Truro. 

However, Arran Pugh soon headed home Walker's corner to make it 3-2 just before the hour and five minutes from time substitute Barry Hayles and Adam Kelly combined well, with Hayles unselfishly squaring the ball for substitute Les Afful to score the goal which means City will again play Step Two football next season.

The Cards reveal their sweet-Hearts

A carnival atmosphere prevailed at the Kingfield Stadium, where Woking celebrated their promotion in true style.  The scene was reminiscent of our own celebrations at home to Weymouth last season, minus of course this delightful troupe of cheerleaders.   

Cards on the table

Short preview of our last away game of the season at Woking:

With the Cards now confirmed as the league champions, and this being their final home game of the season, it is anticipated that 2,500+ spectators will be in attendance.  In other words, Truro City will be priviledged to attend easily the biggest game of the season.  The league trophy will be presented after the game.

A special 64 page edition of the Cards programme will also be available on the day at £3.  It will be a great momento in years to come.  The front page cover is shown here:

There will also be a big screen in the Cardinals Bar.  The Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea will be shown live on the big screen in the Cardinals' Bar on Saturday, kick off 12.45pm.
The bar opens at 12pm.  After the presentations on the pitch there will be showing footage of all Woking's goals this season, starting at approximately 6pm. Once this has finished the disco will start so the fans can continue the carnival long into the evening!  (I'm not sure if we will be waiting for that, but it sounds like everything is organised).

Honours History of Woking FC.

Full History link

FA Cup 4th Round 1990/91
FA Amateur Cup Winners 1957/58
FA Trophy Winners 1993/94, 1994/95, 1996/97
Isthmian League Champions 1991/92
Isthmian Cup Winners 1990/91
Isthmian Charity Shield Winners 1991/92, 1992/93
Football Conference Runners-Up 1994/95, 1996/97
Vauxhall Championship Shield Winners 1994/95
Surrey Senior Cup Winners 1912/13, 1926/27, 1955/56, 1956/57, 1971/72, 1990/91, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1999/00, 2003/04
GLS Conference Cup Winners 2004/05

Giant leap closer last night

Whilst still not mathematically safe, two significant events last night will do no harm to City's survival.  Truro City fans will show no pity on Havant who lost last night to Basingstoke by one goal to nil. 

Needless to say, the infamous Nanetti was up to his old tricks in conning the ref.  A Basingstoke player was sent off last night for a second yellow offence, exagerrated of course by Nanetti.

More unfortunate news surfaced at Farnborough yesterday.  The club allegedly submitted misleading Quarterly Returns information. The end result of course means that Truro rise one place in the league. 

Farnborough were found guilty of misconduct under FA Standardised Rule 18. The club was deducted five points from its league table score and fined £5,000 which was suspended for one calendar year subject to there being no similar offences during this time.

The club appealed and this was heard by the Football Association today and subsequently dismissed.

Therefore, the five-point deduction from Farnborough’s total in the Blue Square Bet South is made with immediate effect.

Tonight Hampton and Richmond play Salisbury, a game which presumably, for once anyway, City fans will be willing Salisbury on?

City still not safe after Bromley defeat

Source Western Morning News


Truro City head to champions Woking next Saturday looking over their shoulders after Saturday's 2-1 home setback against Blue Square Bet South relegation rivals Bromley.

The result leaves 15th-placed City seven points above third-from-bottom Hampton and Richmond, who have two games in hand on all but one of the six teams above them, including Truro.

City boss Lee Hodges admits: "It's still not all done and dusted yet.

"Obviously there are teams – like Basingstoke – that can do us a big favour but the bottom line is that although we have done enough to finish ahead of the bottom two, there are still a lot of teams looking over their shoulder at that third from bottom spot and, unfortunately, we are one of them.

"We will be looking for results to go in our favour but it hasn't happened yet and you cannot rely on that. It's down to us and we have got to go to the champions on Saturday and then we play the runners-up (Dartford) at home in our final game.

"On Saturday, we were just not at it like we were on Monday for the win at Dorchester.

"To be honest, I was delighted to come in at half-time at 0-0 and when we went 1-0 up, I thought it might be our lucky day. It wasn't."

On Saturday, at wind and rain-lashed Treyew Road, City took the lead through forward Andy Watkins, who converted a 47th-minute Martin Gritton cross.

Gritton had a shot saved by Bromley goalkeeper Joe Welch and central defender Arran Pugh headed just wide from Scott Walker's corner as City pressed for a second goal.

However, they were caught on the counter and Michael Malcolm rounded recalled City number one Tim Sandercombe to restore parity in the 56th minute.

Sandercombe – playing his first game of the year after recovering from a knee injury – made a superb save to deny Malcolm while Welch kept out efforts by Gritton and Walker.

Walker made a spectacular off the line clearance but the visitors' went ahead when Danny Waldren's free-kick took a wicked deflection to give Sandercombe no chance.

Walker came closest to levelling but fired wide after being first to Welch's parry from substitute Barry Hayles' goal-bound header.

Hodges said: "I felt for Tim because he has come back in and made some great saves and there was nothing he could do about the goals, especially the winner, which took a wicked, wicked deflection into the opposite corner from where the guy was aiming."

Jake Ash takes the hit

Jake leaves the field in the first half after taking a serious gash to the temple.