TT PREVIEW

Steve Harris – @steveharris84

Steve Harris previews the game at the Kingfield

WOKING FC VS TORQUAY UNITED – NATIONAL LEAGUE

Venue: Laithwaite Community Stadium, Woking

Date: Wednesday 25th January 2023

Kick-off: 7.45pm

CURRENT FORM

Woking: L, L, W, W, W, W

Torquay: L, W, D, L, W, W

TOP SCORERS

Woking: Reece Grego-Cox (9)

Torquay: Aaron Jarvis (9)

HEAD TO HEAD

Woking: 10

Draw: 6

Torquay: 8

WOKING FACTFILE

Year founded: 1887

Nickname: The Cards

Last season’s league finish: 20^th in the National League

Notable honours:

Football Conference/Blue Square Premier/National League:

Runners-up: 1994-95 & 1995-96

Conference South/National League South:

Champions: 2011-12

MANAGER: DARREN SARLL

Darren Sarll left Yeovil Town to replace Alan Dowson as Cards manager last month and oversaw a 1-0 win over Boreham Wood in his first game in charge.

After enjoying a nomadic career as a central midfielder in South East non-league football, it was as a coach that Sarll would really make his mark in the game.

Sarll began his coaching career with Stevenage in the 2006-07 season before moving on to Brentford as youth team manager on the eve of the 2008-09 campaign. During the course of that season, following Andy Scott’s appointment as first team manager, Sarll worked with Scott as first team coach and also managed the Bees’ reserve side.

In the 2011-12 season, he followed Scott to Rotherham United where he was employed as head of player development before returning to Stevenage as head of youth before working as first team coach under Teddy Sheringham. In the wake of Sheringham’s dismissal in February 2016, Sarll was appointed as caretaker manager before taking charge on a full-time basis.

He left Stevenage in 2018 and briefly worked as a youth team coach at Watford before he was appointed as the permanent successor to Darren Way as Yeovil Town manager in the summer of 2019. In his first season in charge, he led the Glovers to the National League play-offs, where they were beaten by Barnet at the quarter final stage.

PLAYER TO WATCH: PADRAIG AMOND

Experienced striker Padraig Amond joined Woking in the summer of 2022 on a two-year deal after leaving League Two side Newport County. The former National League golden boot and promotion winner, who has scored 200 career goals.

Amond began his career in the Republic of Ireland with Shamrock Rovers, spending a decade at Tallaght Stadium, graduating from the club’s academy in 2006 and going onto play 75 times for the first team. In his debut season he won promotion from the First Division to the Premier Division of the Irish pyramid and in 2008 he was voted as the club’s Young Player of the Year.

In 2010 he joined Shamrock’s rivals Sligo Rovers, who finished third as his former club became champions, but he enjoyed a breakout season as he scored 23 times in all competitions, won two cup competitions, and earned a move to Portuguese Premier League club Pacos de Ferreira.

He moved to England for the first time in the summer of 2011, joining Accrington Stanley, initially on loan, before moving on to Morecambe two years later. He played a combined 160 games in League Two for those two clubs, scoring 35 times, and netted three further goals in the EFL Trophy. However, his most prolific year came in the National League for Grimsby Town in 2015-16, where he scored 30 times (37 in all competitions), as the Mariners secured promotion to the Football League via the play-offs, whilst he tied for the golden boot with former United striker Dan Holman.

His exploits earned him a move back to the Football League with Hartlepool United, where he scored 15 times (14 in League Two), despite the Monkey Hangers relegation to the National League at the end of the following season. He remained in League Two as he joined Newport County, where he scored 59 times in 203 appearances. The Exiles also enjoyed a number of memorable FA Cup runs during his time at Rodney Parade – which he saw him net goals against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Middlesbrough, and Manchester City.

Last season was spent on loan at Exeter City, where he scored five times in 30 appearances, and added another promotion to his CV as the Grecians finished runners-up in the League Two.

AMOND STATS:

Position: Centre Forward

Date of Birth: 15th April, 1988 (34 Years Old)

Birthplace: Carlow, Ireland

International: Ireland U21 (4 Caps, 0 Goal)

Height: 1.80m

Former Clubs: Shamrock Rovers, Kildare County, Sligo Rovers, Pacos Ferreira, Accrington, Morecambe, Grimsby, Hartlepool, Newport County, Exeter City

NL Stats 22-23: Played 26, Goals Scored 6, Yellows 1, Red 0

OLD BOYS

Woking: None

Torquay: Shaun Donnellan

LAST MEETING

Torquay United 1-3 Woking

Monday, 29th August 2022

James Daly struck twice in three minutes as Woking came from behind to earn a National League win at Torquay.

Ross Marshall had put the hosts ahead with a 65th-minute header from Ali Omar’s cross, but the game soon turned on its head.

Daly levelled matters on 73 minutes, heading in a corner at the back post, and the 22-year-old forward then swiftly struck again, latching onto the rebound after Jermaine Anderson’s shot had been saved by Rhys Lovett, to put the visitors ahead.

Jack Roles then settled matters by notching a third for Woking with a cool finish 10 minutes from time.