 | Woking Gunners played host to team Petter on Monday 9th June, and just as everything was looking to become a even no score, the Gunners took charge after a stunning 73rd minute power-drive courtesy of Jarmo Arvio; making it 7 out 7 goals in equal appearances for the 33 year old Fin.
In a post match interview he commented, "My confidence at the moment is very high. I am playing well, training well and enjoying things at the moment."
Commenting on recent managerial changes he said, "Things that happen at top level you can never control, but things have improved since a few games ago. The boss and the team are more focused on our games and playing well together which is nice."
For the first 20 minutes into the game, both sides were looking nervous and jittery, with no one making a decisive move forward, contrary to both teams coming to venue with aggressive attacking styles. Then at the 26th minute, things got heated after Sander Hoffman tried to take advantage of finding space at the Gunners rear, only to strike the back heal of defender Adam Acreman, on what would have been a powerful drive through. Replays showed Hoffman powering back his leg to take shot which failed to connect with the ball, appearing to take out the fullback on contact to his left foot.
Play had to be stopped for 2 minutes while the 26 year old Irishman received physio at pitch side. A brawl then infused between Jorma Arvio and Daniel Tolhurst after accusations from the Gunner of foul play. Referee Niles Sukkala responded well to the situation who quickly broke up the banter by issuing yellow cards to both players.
Things began to get more interesting with both teams having equal opportunities at hitting home. The Gunners at times were lucky not to find themselves goals down come the end of the first half, if it wasn't for the quick lightening responses of both number one goalie Kevin Wharmby and winger Zeleny Spacek, who rightly earned his name as man of the match.
Into the first half and at 70 minutes gone on the clock, Woking were beginning to get frustrated and showed signs of making substitutions. But faith was restored when Jarmo Arvio suddenly found himself with the ball at his feet, knocking at the door of Camillo Vandras. A sudden lapse in concentration from Frenchman Paien gravel, who miscued a simple back-pass to his goalie, soon turned to disaster as Spacek couldn't resist his chances and appeared from nowhere only to fire a superb shot from 16 yards. His shot hitting the top right corner of Vandras' net sent Woking fans cheering for glory.
Confidence in Petter was clearly shaken as the game ended with 2 minutes added due to the earlier brawl.
"This was always going to be a tough game," quoted Ade Bishop in a post match interview. "We knew that we had to step up a gear being our last game at home for another 3 matches." "We now face even tougher competition and going to them with this win today will boost our confidence."
He added, "On paper, statistically, Petter always looked to be the stronger team which did worry us. But on the night, when it mattered, they came to us and just didn't deliver. We had to take advantage of things so coming away with a win is all that matters, whatever the score."
Today's win sees Woking maintain their 5th place position but closes the gap to only 5 points with 4th place holders, Super Sonix. But to do that they will need to put on an equally convincing display when they visit 3rd place, Spartons, in two games time.
Turn out at Woking was the lowest for the first time this season as the new ticketing price system was introduced. "This isn't a great start to things," responded Patrick Monk, club secretary. "We were hoping for a better turn out, but whenever new things like this happen, you always have to expect fans to be affected - especially if it isn't something they particularly like."
Affected was the understatement as attendance figures for the match showed a poor 70% of fans passing the turnstiles.
An early judgment call was made by Monk stating, "Things will get better as time goes by and with the team performing well at the moment, our fans are pretty loyal so we should see numbers returning soon."
Later, other news came from the Woking camp that Kivi Raunio had sustained a ligament sprain to his right knee during training, ruling in him out of play for the next 16 days. |
