Woking boss Alan Dowson admits, 'Stockport were miles better than us in every department'

Moussa Diarra gets a header on goal. Image credit: Nick Shaw

If ever there was a case of the haves beating the have-nots, then Woking’s 4-1 home defeat against Stockport County in the National League was it.

The Cards simply not cope with the barrage of attacking play and constant pressing of the full-time County players in the first half which resulted in a 3-0 cushion for the visitors before half-time, the game effectively over as a contest.

Never mind the kitchen sink, Stockport threw the Kitching at in a first half they dominated, with left-back Mark Kitching given the freedom of Kingfield to rampage down the line time and again to cause havoc and help produce the three first-half goals that had Alan Dowson’s men reeling.

An early Moussa Diarra goal in the second half gave the hosts a glimmer of hope but a fourth Stockport goal completely killed the game and Woking were left to lick their wounds.

On the one hand you could call it a masterclass from the visitors while others might argue the Cards stood off them too much and let them play.

Dowson made changes again, with teenager Jayden Wareham coming in for his first start alongside Jonte Smith up front as Woking started with twin strikers. Charlie Cooper was dropped to the bench where he joined the experienced Max Kretzschmar and Matt Jarvis while Malachi Napa and Slavi Spasov also sat it out. The biggest omission from the squad was Ben Dempsey while Josh Casey was still nursing a shoulder injury.

With no obvious left-back replacement for Casey, Dowson opted to switch Kyran Lofthouse from right to left, while Tyler Reid made a rare appearance on the right and was ruthlessly exposed by Kitching.

Dowson started with a 3-5-2 formation with Jack Cook, Ben Gerring and Moussa Diarra as a back three but it didn’t work and it wasn’t long before Smith dropped in behind Wareham and the full-backs became more conventional.

Woking’s plan was torpedoed within two minutes when John Rooney – the less famous of the brothers – centred for Connor Jennings who was unmarked at the far post to tuck home.

On a difficult surface, which had survived two pitch inspections after a deluge, Woking were not able to get a foot in, let alone a look in, during that opening 10 minutes.

And Rooney was a livewire and tried to score with an audacious chip when a long ball forward was intercepted by Diarra but fell to the midfielder and his quick thinking from 25 yards would have produced a better result but for the ever-alert Craig Ross in the Cards goal who back-pedalled to catch under the bar.

Ross saved from Jennings as the pressure mounted and Ryan Croasdale then burst into the area and saw his low strike blocked by the legs of the increasingly busy Ross.

Then Kitching danced down the left and crossed superbly for Alex Reid and he looked certain to double the lead only to get a weak connection on his header which went straight to Ross.

But the second goal wasn’t long in coming as a wonderful County move down the left saw Kitching play a neat one-two with Jennings before firing a low cross to the edge of the penalty area where Rooney arrived late to slide a first-time shot into the bottom corner beyond Ross’s right hand.

Lofthouse had Woking’s first attempt on target in the 38th minute when his tame effort was easily gathered by keeper Ben Hinchliffe.

Stockport’s man in form, Reid, then cracked a shot which Ross saved at his near post but the visitors were able to add a third in first-half stoppage time when Kitching galloped to the byeline for what seemed like the umpteenth time and crossed. Although Reid missed what would have been an open goal, the ball made its way to Macauley Southam-Hales whose shot flew into the top corner.

At least Woking were able to change it in the second half and the introduction of Jarvis for Reid had the effect of stemming the runs of Kitching which were so devastating in the first half.

And when Diarra nodded in from  Jarvis corner, it looked to be game on.
But on 65 minutes, that hope was destroyed as a weak header out from Diarra fell straight to Jennings and when he played in Reid, the County man fired in left footed through the legs of Ross for 4-1.

Dowson was deflated afterwards and admitted: “They were miles better than us. We went two up top and then we found out about our back four, to be honest. They had a bit of a shocker.

“When you are up against top sides, and they are probably the best side in the league, you’ve got to keep things tight.

“So when you concede after two minutes and then again a minute before half-time, it kills you.

“In the second half it was 1-1 and we had a contest and at 3-1 it was a bit of a game on but the back four conceded goals we can’t concede.

“When you go two up top you are saying ‘okay we’ll have a bit of a go here’ but you have to look at defensive flaws.

“We did create some chances and looked like we might score goals but we also look like we will concede them for certain. Cooky [Jack Cook] had a free header, Moussa had another from a corner, but I think they are the best side in the league by a million miles, fair play to them, and we’re not.”

He added: “The centre-halves didn’t do well, the full-backs didn’t do well, and when you have a back four that doesn’t do very well you are going to concede goals, it’s as simple as that really.

“We went 3-5-2 at the start and we thought they [County] might do the same but they never. Obviously it didn’t work and you could tell that after 10 minutes so we had to change it.

“We waited until half-time to have a personnel change which we did do and we had a go in the second half.

“We had the chance to get back in the game and then we conceded again with the worst defensive display but listen, they were better than us in every department and had better players than us in every department.

“We thought we would have a go at them and go a bit gung-ho and we did that and got found out at the back to be honest.”

Asked if there were any positives he added: “Well in the second half it was 1-1 but no, you can’t take too many positives on a day like that. You’ve just got to say you’ve been beaten by the better side.”

Wareham’s inclusion was an interesting one and Dowson revealed he told the 17-year-old forward that if he stayed off social media during the week he would start, and if he didn’t he wouldn’t.

“He doesn’t need any more hype,” added the boss.

Woking FC play at the Laithwaite Community Stadium, Woking, Surrey.