Concord Rangers 1 - 3 Dorking Wanderers
Dorking came out on top in an eventful and feisty encounter in Canvey Island where they beat Concord Rangers 3-1, with a brace of penalties for Prior and a one on one by Matt Briggs. After three red cards and eleven additional minutes, Wanderers came home with all three points.
Dorking started strongly by winning a penalty in the 3rd minute after Rutherford was bundled over from behind. Prior stepped up and slotted home under Chris Haigh to break the deadlock.
Very little happened chance wise for another half an hour, just some niggly challenges from both sides which was slight hint of what was yet to come. Prior was at the end of a promising counter attack after Rutherford threaded a perfect through ball to him, only to get tackled before he pulled the trigger. The resulting corner was played short to Beard who deliver a perfect back post cross to Prior who touched down for McManus whose first time effort swerved inches wide of the post.
Just before half time was the first major incident of the game. Wes Fogden committed a foul which was followed by a bit of afters between him and Sam Blackman. The two players appeared to have clashed heads which resulted in Fogden falling to the ground, in such a bad state and needing to be put in the recovery position. Several minutes later, Wes got up to walk off the pitch, only for the referee to show him a red card. The referee thought that Fogden initiated the clash of heads intentionally and sent him off.
The hosts equalised shortly after the break with a nice run down the line by Frazer Shaw, who crossed onto the head of Alex Wall to easily nod beyond Howes.
Concord had a chance to take the lead through Jason Raad, only for an excellent diving save from Sam Howes to keep Dorking in the game.
Not long after the hour mark, we encountered more drama. Rutherford dived in for a challenge on Jason Raad and committed the foul which the referee deemed to be a yellow card offence. Raad was down for almost ten minutes and needed to be stretchered off. During that time, there were lots of pushing and shoving amongst the players and shouting from both sides. The referee consulted with his assistant regarding the foul and changed Rutherford's yellow to a red card, putting the visitors down to 9 men. The resulting free kick came to nothing.
Dorking were holding on for the one point until there was 10 minutes to go when they won a second penalty. Prior stepped up as confident as ever and fired home to got 2-1 up, much to the hosts' distress.
Dorking kept grinding defensively, and had another chance out of nothing with two minutes to go of regular time. Howes' goal kick was flicked on by Jason Prior and chased down by Briggs. The substitute got to the ball before the lackadiasical defender, ran through one on one with the keeper and expertly placed into the bottom left corner to double the lead.
It was all Concord in the eleven minutes added on, but did very little in terms of challenging Sam Howes. Shaw's came closest to any sort of comeback when his corner bounced directly off the crossbar and out again. Alex Wall was sent off for descent with five minutes remaining to lessen Concord's chance of salvaging a point.
Substitute Charlee Hughes was on the end of a deep cross and should've done better than heading wide of the post, which certified three points to Dorking.
Wanderers' next game will take place at Meadowbank Stadium this Tuesday at 7:45pm. The game will be streamed and details will be posted on the website and social media.
Concord 1
1. Chris Haigh
2. Aron Pollock
3. Frazer Shaw
4. Sam Blackman Y OFF 78'
5. Ryan Scott OFF 78'
6. Tyrone Sterling (C)
7. Tosan Popo
8. James Blanchfield
9. Alex Wall R
10. Jason Raad OFF 73'
11. Temi Babalola
Substitutes
12. Odei Martin
14. Lamar Reynolds ON 73'
17. Billy Roast
18. Brendon Shabani ON 78'
19 Charlee Hughes ON 83'
Dorking 3
1. Sam Howes 3. Sam Beard Y
3. Frazer Shaw 6. Niall McManus
5. Ed Harris Y
23. Wes Fogden R
9. Jason Prior
10. Alfie Rutherford R
7. Jimmy Muitt OFF 76'
22. Barry Fuller (C)
11. James McShane OFF 45'
15. Kane Wills OFF 54'
Substitutes
8. Matt Briggs ON 45'
16. Nick Wheeler
20. Dan Gallagher ON 76'
18. Luke Moore ON 54'
4. Sami El-Abd
Shot on target
4 4
Shots off target
9 2
Corners
3 3
Fouls
14 12
Crosses
10 7
Offsides
3 2
Yellow cards
1 2
Red cards
1 2
Possession
51% 49%
Image supplied by Steve O'Sullivan
Published by Adam Norton
Stats provided by Ollie Wyse