New dad Steve Cordery guided Staines Town to three points in a derby match in front of Wheatsheaf Park’s biggest crowd of the year on Saturday.
The match was overshadowed by the death from cancer of Woking legend Colin Lippiatt, a former manager of the club and assistant to Geoff Chapple in their glory years. A minute’s silence was observed before the game.
Woking provided doughty opponents but Staines began at quite a pace and Jacob Walcott was unlucky as a dipping shot just cleared the bar.
Moses Ademola was in superb form for The Cards, and he was unlucky when his great shot on the turn deflected for a corner.
But Staines were rampant at this stage, Marc Charles-Smith just denied by a vital block, and Leroy Griffiths netting only to discover the offside flag had been raised.
Woking enjoyed a good spell either side of the interval, with Ademola at the heart of all their best moves, setting up a close chance for Ola Sogbanmu, and setting up a penalty appeal when his cross rebounded off Jacob Mingle.
Sub Elvis Hammond twice curled balls dangerously across the Staines goalmouth, but Staines took the initiative again in the final third.
Warren Harris whipped in a ball that Woking skipper Mark Ricketts almost turned into his own net, and Marien Ifura went close with a header.
A draw looked on the cards until Leroy Griffiths flicked a René Steer threw on to André Scarlett, and he advanced down the left flank and drilled the ball past ‘keeper Andrew Little from a tight angle.
Both Griffiths and Walcott chances to increase the lead in the closing seconds, but their fans went away more than happy to leapfrog their neighbours with a 1-0 win.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here