Dorking Wandering
The Dorking Wanderers FC Fans Forum
Local rivals Horsham visit Meadowbank on Boxing Day, with a bumper crowd of over 3000 expected. The Sussex side have been a bogey team for us in recent years and are currently enjoying a great first season at Step 2, currently sitting in 6th on 38 points. The Hornets also boast a number of ex-Wanderers in their squad - Rhys Murphy, Isaac Philpot, Charlie Hester-Cook and Lewis Carey. Assistant manager Sami El-Abd has also featured in the matchday squad this season as well.
Niall McManus returns to the squad after recovering from a second broken leg of the season but Jimmy Muitt is a doubt after coming off injured at Slough. Josh Taylor, Alfie Rutherford and Jordan Norville-Williams remain longer term absentees, while Luke Moore is 2-3 weeks away from a return.
Predictions:
Dorking 0-0 Horsham
2,932 att.
Foulkes
Camp Storey Annesley
Lewis Gallagher Young Vincent
Carter
Prior Casey
Subs: Craig, Francomb, Pybus, McManus, McShane, Hebert, Lawrence
Agree, will be a draw but going for 1-1 (Lewis) 2,993. Watched Horsham a few times this year, good in defence and their attack will cause Dorking problems. Horsham 1st in League away from home, but Dorking best at home, hence draw.
Dorking (2) 3 Horsham (2) 3 (Carter, Young, Lewis)
2,801
Hopefully get a better result than the last couple of Boxing Days .
Tight game , 1-1 . Prior
Fed up of losing to Horsham, it's equivalent to how Maidstone must feel about playing us
3200 attendance
"Why would I leave to join a League Two club? We're going there anyway!" - Marc White
Really odd starting 11. Starting Prior yet again despite his poor performances this season, where he has missed loads of chances and clearly has lost his legs completely. Casey is benched as is Lawrence. I would take both over Prior everyday of the week.
My prediction is 1-2.
I’m not optimistic either : without Storey and Muitt - two of our best performers this season- we are heavily reliant on more magic from Lewis and Carter. It’s a lot to ask …
Dorking 2 Horsham 3 (Young, Carter)
The players are looking super on edge after 5 minutes. I am sticking with 2-1 Horsham here.
Oh we of little faith!
That is another great win against a good team.
The magic came from Casey - what a difference having a real poacher up top - but they were both excellent team goals. A couple of narrow squeaks in the second half but overall I thought we managed the game pretty well with some really aggressive defending. Gives us a nice buffer with a couple of tough games coming up
Stale first half with little action. Not much to cheer for either team, with the cold weather . affected the atmosphere.
Second half much much better. Lewis got into the game more with some great runs leading so some chances for Prior and eventually Casey with two brilliant finishes. Loving this home form at the moment!
Watched from the “Lampard” stand today as needed the seat for the father in law, good spot to watch the match with uninterrupted views. Will definitely watch from there again
Enjoyed it. First half felt really little in it, we were intricate, perhaps a little too intricate. Horsham were quick on their relatively few breakaways.
Survived a few hairy moments. I think the Pybus booking was fair as it looked like he made a meal of the attempted tackle.
Did wonder why Tony Craig went off, but it seems it was just a tactical thing to achieve a more attacking shape.
Lovely goal put on a plate by Macca, and we actually got a second to stretch the lead which was great.
The table looks really close now, I am sure Hornchurch had a 10 point lead at one point? Worthing is going to be a ridiculously tough assignment, they are on incredible form since Hinshelwood returned.
Attendance was a little above my prediction of 3200. The club played a blinder with making it all ticket and saying that 'only 100 remain' etc in the build up (the ground actually has a capacity of over 4100 so that was a bit of clever marketing in reality)
I think the biggest home gate we have has was Woking on Good Friday 2023 (in the National League) in front of 3732. And there were 'only' 650 away fans today too, whereas Woking brought a lot more than that on that day.
It was good to see Marc acknowledging that the views in the ground when we get these sort of crowds isn't the best, but it is not something the club isn't aware of and it will be something the club will seek to improve in the future when possible.
"Why would I leave to join a League Two club? We're going there anyway!" - Marc White
Done very well to be in top 4 at half way stage considering injuries. Casey and Young have been good loan signings. If improve away form, could finish in top 3 or higher.
- After the Horsham win feeling confident for a high placed play off position but if we could beat Worthing, admittedly a big if, we could start to dream bigger....
Let’s dream … 🙌
‘We’re the red and white army’ 🐔 ⚽️
Really tough game with not a huge amount of attacking quality from either side but really good to get the win ahead of Worthing. Agreed with a lot of Marc's comments on how Horsham played and it made the game a pretty poor spectacle but oh well.
The crowd was a big highlight and felt like the National League days again.
Some stats from the game:
Possession: Dorking 54% - 46% Horsham
Shots (OT): Dorking 13 (2) - 7 (4) Horsham
xG: Dorking 1.31 - 0.81 Horsham
Duels: Dorking 57% - 43% Horsham - Our first duels win for several games
Top Performer: Patrick Casey [8.3]
