MATCH PREVIEW: DORKING WANDERERS (H)

Boreham Wood vs Dorking Wanderers
Saturday, 27th January 2024, 3:00 pm
Mangata Pay UK Stadium, Meadow Park, Vanarama National League

PREVIEW

Tomorrow afternoon, we host Marc White’s Dorking Wanderers at Meadow Park. The three points stayed in Surrey in our last meeting with the Wanderers, where The Wood were the visitors. A misplaced Nathan Ashmore pass fell to striker, Alfie Rutherford who fired home to give Dorking a 1-0 lead, a lead the home-side took into the break. The Wood levelled the score in the 73^rd minute through a Tom Whelan header but there would be no comeback for Luke Garrard’s side, however, as Wanderers defender Haydn Hollis headed home from a corner in the 82^nd, restoring the lead and ultimately awarding Dorking the victory.

Dorking Wanderers currently occupy 19^th place in the National League table, 6 places below but only 3 points worse off than the Wood. The Wood come into this fixture unbeaten in the last 5, drawing on 4 occasions, accruing 7 points of a possible 15. Luke Garrard’s side will be hoping to turn 1 point into 3 points and return to winning ways at Meadow Park tomorrow afternoon.

FORM GUIDE

Dorking Wanderers – L-W-L-L-W

Marc White’s side travel to Hertfordshire off the back of a 2-1 away loss to Dagenham, where Dorking were victims of an Inih Effiong winner in stoppage time, a period of stoppage time which saw both teams score. In their previous 10 games, in all competitions, the Wanderers have registered 3 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw. Dorking began their year with a trip to Oxfordshire and came away with the three points, with goals from midfielders, Niall McManus and Sebastian Bowerman helping the Wanderers to a 2-1 victory over Oxford City. This was followed by a visit from Oldham Athletic 5 days later, with the Wanderers suffering a narrow, 1-0 defeat thanks to a Fondop-Talum strike into the roof of the net, coming just before the half-time break. Marc White and his side would then travel up the M1 for a fourth round FA Trophy tie with Non-League Premier side, Macclesfield. It would be a day to forget for the Wanderers, however, as they were dealt a 5-0 thrashing in the North-West with Luke Moore being shown a red card in the process.

Off the back of their departure from the FA Trophy, Dorking would return to winning ways back in Surrey with a narrow 1-0 victory over Gateshead, a Charlie Carter goal on the stroke of half-time securing the win over their Tyneside opponents. Finally, we take you back to Tuesday, where the Wanderers travelled to East London for their match-up with Dagenham & Redbridge. The Daggers took the lead 15 minutes into the second half through Effiong, and it took until the 4^th minute of injury time for the Wanderers to find the leveller, Josh Taylor finding the back of the net after Seb Bowerman’s penalty was saved by Daggers keeper, Elliot Justham. There would, however, be no late point for Dorking as Effiong restored the Dagenham lead 2 minutes later, completing his brace and drawing the curtain on a chaotic end to the game.

ONES TO WATCH

Harrison Male:

In May 2023, 23-year-old goalkeeper Harrison Male joined Dorking Wanderers. Male spent over a decade in the Leeds United youth ranks and represented the England national team at U15 and U16 level where the keeper made his international debut at 14. Following loan spells at Tadcaster Albion and Gateshead, Harrison Male joined Worthing in 2021 and starred in goal for the South-coast side over the 2022/23 season. The young goalkeeper now applies his trade at Dorking Wanderers and brings a lot of experience in-between the sticks for Marc White’s side, despite being only 23 years of age. Male has only kept 5 clean sheets at this stage in the season, but there is no doubting his talent and potential in-between the posts. The young keeper is sure to test the likes of Tyrone Marsh and Erico Sousa in front of goal tomorrow afternoon.

PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW