Bostik Matchday: Wanderers find the win- but Oaks aren't overawed

Fifty eight. It’s not a number you’d expect to have a great deal of significance.

If you’re a West Ham United fan, you might have seen it on the front of a bus to Upton Park, but these days you’ll have to watch it sail past unused as it doesn’t go anywhere near Stratford. If you’re interested in environmental protection, you might know that- rather horrifically- it’s the percentage that the world wildlife population fell between 1970 and 2010. It was also the number of the Now That’s What I Call Music Album that featured such classics as Hey Ya by Outkast and Air Hostess by Busted- we may be stretching the idea of classics here- and shockingly was released in 2004, which makes you feel rather old, doesn’t it?

But it’s also a number that should be significant if you’re a Dorking Wanderers fan. You’ll undoubtedly be wondering why at this point; after all, the club isn’t 58 years old, indeed it’s only N-n-n-n-nineteen (Paul Hardcastle, Now That’s What I Call Music 3, 1985), it isn’t the number of players they’ve used so far in what has been an injury hit season (20), and although it is, by a twist of fate, the number of points they got last season, that’s not it either.

No, the significance of the number 58 is that it’s the percentage that their average attendance has increased since their move to Meadowbank in the summer.

New stadium syndrome is something that always tends to have a positive effect. OK, if you’re a Spurs fan and your club has been advertising yours as the only place to watch the Champions League in London, whilst your team tries its best to crash out before it’s open, you might think differently- but in the main, it works well. Look at Aveley, up by 200% last season and challenging at the very top of the table this, and Walton Casuals, up 175% and promoted. On that basis 58% might not look a particularly large rise, but Wanderers started from a far better place than either the Millers or Casuals. An average of 421- up from 267 last year- is incredibly positive, and indeed there are four clubs in National League South in a significantly worse position and without this growth.

Two months into a new season, two months into a new stadium, firmly situated in the centre of a town of twelve thousand people who are fast becoming aware of what they’ve now got right on their doorstep rather than a twenty minute walk away alongside a busy road- and inexorably climbing towards the top of the Bostik Premier Division with only one defeat along the way, now is a marvellous time to be a Dorking Wanderers fan. Victory today wouldn’t get them nearer the summit- this was an FA Trophy match- but Meadowbank was a rather optimistic place, and with good reason.

Amongst those filled with that optimism were Paul and Hugo Manuel. Wanderers fans, but also fulfilling the dual purpose of running the club’s fabulous programme shop, you might remember that they featured the last time we covered a Dorking home match, back at their old ground of Westhumble early last season.

Asked about their hopes for the campaign they both chorused “promotion,” and expressed the view that they’d be a little disappointed if it didn’t happen. Although Hugo did qualify that by pointing out that a good run in the FA Trophy would be fair compensation, before they both got onto the subject of the extensive Dorking injury list. How had the season been so far?

“Fabulous- until we went to Burgess Hill on Tuesday night. We could have lost that one, in honesty. We were hanging on a bit. But then with the injury list…” We were back at once more with the elephant in the room- and to be fair, they had a point. Matt Briggs, JJ O’Sullivan, Ben Dyett, David Ray, the list went on- and the loss of six first teamers would put a strain on any squad.

Today’s opposition were in a fairly positive frame of mind, too. When we last covered Sevenoaks Town, in a 3-2 home defeat to Hastings United exactly two months ago, there was an air of concern around Greatness Park. Their first season at this level; would they be good enough? Since then, however, Micky Collins has guided his team to a far better place- their only defeat in the last five weeks came against Bostik Premier Division leaders Tonbridge Angels in the Velocity Trophy, and that run has included notable victories over VCD Athletic, Hythe Town, and- in the last round of the FA Trophy- a 4-2 win at Grays Athletic that saw them come from two goals down after fifteen minutes to score four without reply in the second half. And they were already eight-six ahead before kick off today.

In injuries, sadly, not goals.

Manager Micky Collins, up in the excellent club bar overlooking the pitch before the game, was his usual ebullient self- but couldn’t hide a little exasperation. “Confident? As much as we can be. We’re playing a Premier Division side and the squad is badly depleted. I tried to add to it on Thursday but couldn’t quite manage it, and anyway that’s a balancing act- there’s no point having a squad of twenty five, for example, because when the injured players get fit you’ve got more on the sidelines than on the pitch, and players want to play.”

He then spoke, with justifiable pride, about his side’s form of late, before wandering off to finalise his team sheet.

Today promised to be a battle of the strikers. In the Oaks corner we had Frankie Sawyer, with eleven so far including two hat tricks, both of which came in knockout competitions. In the Wanderers corner a more familiar name, Jason Prior, with nine goals after returning to this level in the summer. Prior was the talk of the ground before the match, with discussion from turnstiles to bar to refreshment queue about the considerable quality he brought to the side, even though apparently he hadn’t been fully fit for much of the season. Heaven help defences across the Bostik Premier when he gets to 100%.

The players ran out to the strains of “Right Here, Right Now,” by Fatboy Slim. It was so cold that most of those resembling fatboys were just wearing several layers, the weather a real contrast from the glorious sunshine we were experiencing at the same time last week. And then we were off.

Wanderers soon got into their passing rhythm, and perhaps they should have been ahead in the fourth minute. Prior was first to a pass into the Sevenoaks box, a defender stretched out a leg, there seemed to be contact, Prior fell- and the referee waved play on. The reaction from the stand was more bemusement than anger- we’d all waited for the whistle, for the official to stretch out his arm towards the spot…but it didn’t come. Oaks took heart, and applied some pressure of their own, Ryan Fowler only being thwarted by some stout defending at the back post. The next few minutes saw the away side in the ascendency, passing neatly when they had space, aiming the ball at the colossus that was Kenny Pogue when time was short.

Oaks had the first shot on goal, Osman Proni firing over as we entered the fourteenth minute. Prior went far closer a minute later. Leaving his marker for dead in the centre circle, he received the ball, turned, and powered towards goal, before firing just wide of Ben Bridle-Card’s left hand post. The crowd let out an appreciative “ooh.” This was his second such run, and you felt that if Oaks couldn’t track him better they’d be made to pay.

Some fabulous interplay between Luke Moore and Prior apart, the game began to drag a little, allowing time to admire the scenery. Wanderers former Westhumble ground sat below the green bulk of Box Hill, and their move to the town centre had put distance between them and the North Downs, but not much. Sitting in the main stand and looking forward you almost felt yourself in a natural bowl, the hills stretching in front of you, and behind the goal to the right at this point manned by home keeper Slavomir Huk. Groundhoppers used to always comment on the beauty of Wanderers former ground, and it was good to see that this one was just as pretty- only with far better facilities.

And then the daydreaming had to stop, as Wanderers almost made the breakthrough. A pass to Prior, a backheel, a layoff from Moore to Tom Richards, and only an excellent tackle from Mikey Dalton stopped a certain goal. Half an hour gone, but we still had no score. Oaks hit back, and applied a great deal of pressure only thwarted by some rather desperate home defending- and then, of course, the inevitable happened. A break, a cross, and Prior unmarked at the back post. 1-0, and the away side could probably feel a little hard done by.

It should have been 2-0 in the 41st minute. A free kick conceded by Greg Benbow- who earned the first yellow card of the afternoon- was whipped across the box, and Chris Boulter leapt at the back post, sending a header goalward. Keeper Bridle-Card got a touch, and it dropped just behind Prior, who was standing on the line, before being cleared. Oaks goal might have been leading a charmed life at this point, but they got some more luck a moment later. Huk made a hash of a clearance and it landed at the feet of Sawyer 25 yards out, the keeper out of position. It wasn’t easy, and there were two defenders between him and the goal, but the striker hit an unerring shot that found the bottom corner of the unguarded net and levelled the match. As the half drew to a close Huk had to make a save from Ainsley Everett, who had charged like a whippet down the left wing and made the chance for himself, but the sides went in level- and, on the balance of play, that was probably fair.

Within a minute of the restart Everett had brought another save from Huk, who, his one aberration notwithstanding, had otherwise been his usual commanding self. Oaks looked confident- and why shouldn’t they be? The game then entered a period of stalemate. Both sides probed, but a header over from Pogue and a deflected shot from Richards aside neither went close. The match was far from being devoid of effort, or entertainment, but the final pass had gone temporarily missing. The away side were perhaps having the better chances, Everett a constant menace, but neither keeper was being unduly troubled.

Wanderers decided to make a double change on 63 minutes. On came Guiseppe Sole and Dan Pearse in an attempt to reclaim their superiority, but the next chance came the way of Sawyer, the striker this time failing to make Huk break sweat. And then Huk made up for his earlier error in style. A ball found Everett at the back post, and he expertly made himself space before firing goalwards from ten yards. It was hard, low, on target, and saved magnificently, the ball being turned away for a corner. Everett turned away, exasperated, but he’d been the best player on the field for the past half hour and had nothing to reproach himself for. But then, as always tends to happen in these moments, Dorking got their break.

A bouncing ball in the Sevenoaks box saw Greg Benbow and James McShane connect. The challenge wasn’t malicious, and it was a genuine attempt to get the ball, but it left the Wanderers player on the floor and the referee pointing to the spot. The official was right this time, and Prior soon had the ball in the net. Two-one and twenty minutes left; surely this time the Premier Division side would weather the storm?

Prior almost had his hat trick four minutes later, an intelligent turn and shot bringing a diving save from Bridle-Card. It was then Oaks turn to make a change, and surprisingly it was Everett who made way, William Johnson-Cole coming on. “Why would they take him off,” came a voice from the left of the stand. We were all thinking it.

Bridle-Card then kept his side in it, saving expertly from a McShane header, but Wanderers seemed to have their opponents on the ropes. Chris Boulter saw a header come back off the post before Prior failed to connect with the rebound, and then another Boulter header just cleared the bar. Sevenoaks responded with another change, but it made little difference to the pattern of the game, Bridle-Card being forced into another excellent save from Niall McManus. The keeper then did it again, tipping over from Richards, and Wanderers must have been getting sick of the sight of him. When he made yet another diving save from Sole with three minutes left the striker looked at him as if he couldn’t quite believe what had happened. Four added minutes, and a few Sevenoaks flurries, and the game was over. It was Dorking who were progressing to the next round of the competition, although Sevenoaks absolutely deserved the applause they received from their supporters as they departed the pitch- their keeper particularly.

To be a success in Non-League a club needs to be at the centre of their community. Wanderers are now exactly that in a geographical sense, bucking the trend for out of town stadiums by building one a goal kick away from the high street, a miscued clearance from the frozen food section of Marks and Spencer. The way they are using their facilities, with a soft play area, restaurant open for lunch every day and pitch hired out to all comers is now making them a real community asset too. They seem set to become the centre of their community in a hearts and minds sense, too.

Promotion after promotion, from Sunday League to a side who now have a state of the art stadium, a state of the art team and a real chance of further progression. Nineteen years may not be a long time, but for Dorking Wanderers their humble beginnings now look an entire lifetime away.