Woking v Aldershot Town Match Preview – Tuesday 6th August 2019
After Saturday’s narrow opening day home defeat to title favourites AFC Fylde, The Shots make the short trip to Kingfield, to take on newly promoted Woking on Tuesday evening. The Cards got off to a winning start at the weekend, beating Dagenham & Redbridge 2-0. BBC Surrey’s Rob Worrall previews the game…
Shots Squad:
Aldershot Town boss Danny Searle has a couple of injury concerns, both in defence. Kodi Lyons-Foster is still recovering from an ankle injury sustained in pre-season, whilst Ollie O’Dwyer, so impressive in the opening half an hour on Saturday, had to be substituted due to a groin problem and is doubtful.
Opposition:
Name: Woking
Founded: 1889
Nickname: The Cardinals / Cards
Manager: Alan Dowson
Stadium: Kingfield, aka The Laithwaite Community Stadium
2018/19 National League South position: Runners-Up & Play-Off Winners
The Gaffer:
49-year-old Gateshead born Alan Dowson, is in his second season in charge of The Cards. He was a defender in his playing days, who made 55 Football League appearances for the likes of Bradford City and Darlington, before moving into Non-League, with Slough, Gateshead and Walton & Hersham. He spent 11 years with The Swans, the last three of which he also managed them, before switching to another management role with Kingstonian. In his second full season with The K’s, they won the Isthmian Division One South. They made a couple of play-off appearances in the Isthmian Premier but after the second of those in 2014, Dowson resigned. He was soon back in management, with Kingstonian and in 2015-16, he led them to the Isthmian Premier League title, scoring 105 goals. In 2018, he was appointed Woking manager and they finished runners-up in the National League South, came from behind late on to beat Welling in the Play-Off final and secured promotion to the National League.
Squad:
Dowson retained 10 players from last season’s play-off winning campaign, including goalkeeper Craig Ross and impressive defenders Jack Cook, Josh Casey and Ben Gerring. In midfield, Kane Ferdinand is now The Cards longest serving player, whilst Max Kretzschmar also remained. Jake Hyde, who scored eleven goals for the Cards last season signed on again and has been joined up top by Dave Tarpey, who once scored 44 goals in a season for Maidenhead in the National League South. Dowson has recruited the experience of defenders Manny Parry and Moussa Diarra for this campaign plus Wealdstone player of the season Godfrey Poku.
Referee:
Tuesday’s referee is unknown at the time of publication.
Commentary:
BBC Surrey Sport’s Rob Worrall and Woking FC Press Officer John Moore will be covering the game live on Tuesday evening. Tune in to the BBC Sport website, or the BBC Sport App from 7.35pm for full match commentary. To interact with them, tweet @RobShot66.
