WANDERERS BEGIN PRE-SEASON WITH A WIN
Roffey FC 0 Dorking Wanderers 5
July 2nd 2022
Pre-Season Friendly - All Proceeds to Mind Charity (https://www.mind.org.uk)
Dorking kicked off pre-season with a straight forward win over Roffey FC at Bartholomew Way.
In peak pre-season conditions beneath blue skies and with the sun shining, Marc White effectively named a line up for each half, making eight changes to the team which would start the game ahead of the second half. Across the match debuts were handed to summer arrivals Jack Jebb, Adam Mekki, Ryan Seager and Joe Rabbetts. Young midfielder Spike Stegall, a recent addition to the Wanderers 'B' team, would also be included in the matchday squad, playing the whole of the second half.
Wanderers began strongly, pegging Roffey back into their half as they would do for the vast majority of the opening forty-five. Cheadle had started especially brightly, finding Rutherford with a cross in the opening minutes as the striker was deemed to be offside, before then delivering a dangerous ball the Roffey keeper could only flap at, Gallagher lashing the loose ball over the bar.
Cheadle would get reward for his strong start, taking on a free kick awarded on the edge of the right side of the penalty box after Muitt was brought down. The roaming left sided defender drove the ball firmly into the top corner of goal to open the scoring on five minutes.
Much of the good attacking work would continue to take place down the left as Cheadle and Mekki capitalised on that bit more space being available on that side. Mekki nearly found Rutherford before turning well at the byline to cross for Muitt, who angled a header just wide of target.
Muitt himself was starting to have a positive impact on the opposite wing, and midway through the half doubled Wanderers lead. An attack from the right had broken down, but the ball was quickly poked back into the box by Josh Taylor, and Muitt made no mistake rifling the ball home.
Despite Wanderers dominance of the ball Roffey were well organised and robust in dealing with the pressure, reducing the visitors to largely speculative efforts. Seager and Rutherford were subsequently denied any real goalscoring chances, but would combine nicely at the edge of the box to tee up Josh Taylor for a volley which would sail just wide, Luke Moore would also go close with a similar first-time effort. Seager would attempt an audacious overhead kick just before the break as the ball was dropped in from the right, but sent it off-target.
Half-Time: Roffey 0 Wanderers 2
Wanderers second half line up resembled a flexible looking 4-5-1 formation, Kennedy given licence to get further up field on the left side with Rabbetts playing as the wing-back, and Moore deployed in the deeper midfield position as Josh Taylor and Stegall got forward to support Ottaway up top.
Inside the opening minute of the restart Ottaway would be afforded an immediate chance, heading over a Kennedy free kick delivery, before Roffey had their first real opportunity in the game up the other end, working the ball down the right before an eventual strike deflected awkwardly over the bar.
Around the hour the hosts would go close again, No7 latched on to a Harris headed clearance and volleyed his strike over the bar, prior to a low cross from the right just evading the arriving No10 in the middle and almost bobbling into the far corner of goal.
Huk was forced in a stretched tip over the bar from a driven-in corner ball, the Roffey No10 then forcing the stopper into action again quickly after, palming the ball over the bar from a powerful direct free kick whipped in from the left.
Wanderers started to re-establish that dominance of the ball into the final twenty minutes, and began to fashion chances again. Rabbetts bounded into the area from the left and dragged a shot wide, before Kennedy would drop a low ball in perfectly for Ottaway at the back post, but the striker couldn't get over the ball and fizzed his effort over the top. A Roffey clearance fell kindly for Jebb just inside the box, the midfielder connecting well with a half-volley, but guiding it just the wrong side of the post.
A clinical eight minute spell saw Wanderers go on to round out the score line as we went into the final quarter of an hour. Jebb was in the thick of the good work late on and had a hand in all three goals as he played slightly further forward after coming back on midway through the second half with Gallagher and Mekki.
As an attack from the left broke down and the ball came out, Jebb clipped the ball back in just in front of the six-yard box, and Rabbetts timed his run well from the left to arrive and knock the ball home. The former Dartford man Jebb would then win a penalty after being curtailed on the right side of the box. He put the ball on the spot himself, and calmly tucked the ball to the keeper's right. Then, after a deep ball was crossed in from the left, Jebb guided it back across goal at the far post for Ottaway to tap home from close range.
The Wanderers frontman did head over late from close range, and almost combined with Jebb again, not able to make contact on a dangerous cross from the right wing.
Wanderers pre-season preparations continue in just three day's time as we welcome Sutton United to Meadowbank on Tuesday evening.
Dan Stobbart
Wanderers 1st Half: Huk, Fuller (c), Gallagher, Cheadle; Muitt, Jebb, Moore, J Taylor, Mekki; Rutherford, Seager
Wanderers 2nd Half: Huk, Philpot, El-Abd (c), Harris, Kennedy; Muitt (Mekki 68'), Moore (Gallagher 68'), Stegall, J. Taylor (Jebb 68'), Rabbetts; Ottaway
Goals: Cheadle 5', Muitt 21', Rabbetts 75', Jebb (pen) 81', Ottaway 83'
No Cards Issued
Referee: Damith Bandara
Att: 475