Dorking Wandering
The Dorking Wanderers FC Fans Forum
A first visit to the Testwood Stadium this weekend as we look to bounce back from a tough Easter at newly promoted AFC Totton. The Stags have had a good first season in the NLS and currently sit 13th in the league on 57 points. The Hampshire side have nothing to play for though, as relegation and promotion are both now impossible for them, and this means recent form has seen them pick up just 1 win from their last 5 games.
Marc said in the weekly update that Camp and Rutherford are possibilities for this weekend, but Pat Casey is unlikely to return until the very end of the season. Harry Pinchard will miss the game with the injury picked up on Easter Monday, while Paul McCallum is also a doubt. There was no mention of Tony Craig or Niall McManus.
Predictions:
Totton 1-2 Dorking (Prior, Lewis)
1,602 att.
Foulkes
Francomb Annesley Norville-Williams
Enslin Pybus Sidwell Lewis
F.Vincent
Carter Prior
Subs: Camp, Knight, L.Vincent, Moore, Pearson, Rutherford, Lawrence
I thought we played alright today, like Marc said in the post match , was defence vs attack most of the time. Disappointing we didn’t get more shots off and the final balls on crosses and free kicks never found their man.
More injury chaos, really not sure who will go centre back next week. I spoke to Bracknell fan who said Knight has played there before but Marc doesn’t seem to like playing him at all recently .
What will be will be, just hoping we can keep that second spot
Quick word on the ground which I thought was excellent. 2 big bar areas as you come in and another little bar and burger van on the far end. Good views all the way round and close to the action.
Wouldn’t want to be there on a wet day though
Didn't feel we deserved much from today. Poor defending on both goals, and didn't get going until they scored and subs came on. Howeve4, their keeper played well in second half with a couple.of good saves.
I only saw this on my phone, but we didn't seem great. Totton appeared to be stronger in the tackles, and shouldn't Foulkes have saved their second? I thought Moore looked good, always anticipating what was going on. And why do we always play high balls from corners and free kicks straight to the keeper?
Tidy ground, especially as they were step 5 not that long ago. The two big bars were decent and much better than anything we have. And they have an Oasis tribute tonight, followed by the big boxing fight on the tv's.
The raised standing on the side made me wish that we had some of that on the dugouts side at Meadowbank (the Meadowbank dugouts could easily go either side of the Stonegate Stand to facilitate that, in the same way that Totton had their dugouts each side of their main stand)
Apparently they are required to put in some covered standing asap as they have none
As for the game, not sure we could have done much more bearing in mind the team we had out there apart from actually take our chances - and there were plenty of those we didn't take
The injury situation was beyond a joke again though, it really isn't good enough. If a year ago we blamed it on the physio team and then I believe the club overhauled that, then it didn't work. If you were running any other sort of business and all the equipment was constantly breaking down then eventually you'd have to have a complete root and branch overhaul of everything that you are doing. I know players are human beings, but it kind of feels like whatever we are doing we are not managing their fitness and endurance correctly.
We are where we are though and we have to get on with all the positives that we still have and pull together.
It could be that we need to show consistency across play off games. Hopefully 2 play off games rather than 3.
Going to be so hard with such a depleted squad though. Wherever Pat Casey is, I really hope he is good for the play offs as he could be the difference for us.
Whether we go up or not, in the summer a long hard look back at this season NEEDS to take place, and serious consideration given to individual players fitness history before the squad is shaped for next season.
"Why would I leave to join a League Two club? We're going there anyway!" - Marc White
Poor performance and once again left lamenting the squad we have to show. Carter, Sidwell & Lawrence the bright sparks in my opinion. Almost certainly we will be 2nd/3rd now so we need to tune up for the playoffs. The lack of a goal scorer is the most worrying thing for me. SOS has to go to Charlton to get Casey back, JP is not worth playing. Can we bring someone in on emergency loan? Surely Charlton must have another starlet they can loan us for experience for the rest of season until we can sort it out properly?!
Absolutely the whole squad needs looking at in the off season regardless of whether we gain promotion or not. Obviously some of the injuries appear to be unlucky, but its historic for these players to suffer similar injuries so we need to see the back of them and build a squad with the correct back room staff to get through the season with 19/20 players.
Emergency loan - not a chance, there's a transfer deadline for a reason, I think goalkeepers are the only exception allowed.
I remember when Southend had a transfer embargo and only something like 13 fit players at the club and still had to get on with it. We would be told you have a whole B team to take players from.
"Why would I leave to join a League Two club? We're going there anyway!" - Marc White
Was good to see Jimmy Muitt running and training on the pitch pre game. Guess we definitely won’t be seeing him at all though till next season.
The injuries have certainly cost us this season, and this needs to be looked at, and we need to release any out of contract players with many historical injuries or too old to play many games. I also think having to play on a very poor pitch at home does not help, as the players have to play differently away which have been mainly grass, and players have had trouble adjusting.
What I feel has really hurt us though is the lack of depth in certain positions. We started with only 2 or 3 strikers and have only had 6 defenders, of which only 2 play CB. This lack of depth in defence has probably cost us the title. We need a much better balanced and bigger squad (22-25 including loan players) if we are serious about promotion.