Match Report

Omar Bugiel continued his tremendous run of form as he followed his hat trick against Wrexham with two more goals as U’s came away from Kingfield with a superb and thoroughly deserved victory. After opening the scoring in stunning fashion inside the first minute, Bugiel added a second on the half hour as U’s made the best of having the elements in their favour, and then watched his defence perform magnificently in the second half to restrict the home side, who went in to the game in fourth place in the table, to few clear cut chances. Indeed it was U’s who came closer to adding to the score in the second half, with Tommy Wright, Craig Eastmond and substitute David Ajiboye all having chances.

Ajiboye began the game on the bench as U’s rotated their wingers, Will Randall given a start, but was on midway through the second half when, in the one negative moment of the game for U’s, Kyel Reid suffered a hamstring injury chasing back to try and stop a Woking counter attack. If that was the low moment, the high came after just 46 seconds as Bugiel, showing his confidence, met a dropping ball 25 yards out with a first time volley (above) which was only ever ending up in one place, Craig Ross helpless as it flew over him in to the back of the net.

U’s could have had a second ten minutes later when a surging run from Eastmond ended with the ball breaking back to him after his pass to Wright had been intercepted, but he snatched at his shot and sent it wide from about ten yards out. Having been outplayed in the early stages, Woking then enjoyed a better spell when U’s were put under pressure from some set pieces, Nik Tzanev having to tip the ball away on more than one occasion as corners came in to his six yard box, while a brilliant intervention from Kenny Davis saw him head the ball out for a corner just as Ben Gerring seemed set to head in from close range, and Eastmond threw himself in the way of a Dave Tarpey shot that bounced up in to Tzanev’s hands.

From one corner, though, U’s launched a counter attack led by Reid which ended up with Tommy Wright being frustrated by an equally good piece of defending from Godfrey Poku. Randall’s corner was cleared but the ball found its way back to him, and his intelligent low ball back in to the penalty area was teed up for Bugiel, who in his current form was never going to miss and crunched the ball in to the net from fifteen yards.

The feeling was that a two goal lead was the minimum requirement as U;s turned round to face the wind, although the rain that had fallen for most of the first half had subsided, and they soon came under pressure but defended well enough to restrict Woking to only the occasional chance. There was one goalmouth scramble in which Woking twice appealed for penalties before Kane Ferdinand shot too high, but the best chance fell for Tarpey as the ball broke across goal after another scramble but he miskicked with the goal at his mercy. At the other end Moussa Diarra’s fine challenge took the power out of a Wright shot when the goal beckoned, and then Craig Ross made two saves in as many minutes as he blocked a shot from Eastmond with his legs and then diverted the ball in to the side netting to deny Ajiboye a fine solo goal after he cut in from the right and darted between two defenders.

There was always the danger that a late Woking goal could spark an anxious closing spell, but with Tzanev taking one fine catch under pressure and a cross from the left evading both Tarpey and Jake Hyde it rarely looked like coming as U’s recent impressive unbeaten run extended to six games in the league.

Woking: C Ross, J Cook, J Casey, S Donnellan(sub P Hodges H-T), B Gerring, M Diarra, D Tarpey, K Ferdinand, J Hyde, G Poku(sub M Kretzschmar 76), J Loza. Subs n/u S Howes, N Collier, J Gray. Booked: Gerring, Casey, Diarra.

Referee: Paul Howard