WOKING START NEW YEAR WITH WIN

From the outset Woking took the game to the visitors with the forwards dominant in the set piece and loose. This early dominance paid off with number eight John Neil-Dickie charging over and centre Fin Rowe taking advantage of some lacklustre defending to easily score the first and second tries of the afternoon. Adam Quinn converted both to make it 14 – 0 after just 10 minutes.

Woking’s momentum was then halted as they lost scrum half Lewis Dudley to a serious looking facial injury. The experienced, Mike Aitchison replaced him in the half backs with Matt Ralph moving to scrum half. The break seemed to benefit Wandsworthians who worked their way deep into Woking territory but were unable to convert their pressure into points. More good team play created the opportunity for Aitchison to get the Woking backline moving and show off their handling skills which ended with the returning Kiehlan Watson scoring in the corner. Five minutes from the end of the first half centre Charlie Goddard got in on the act as the Wandsworthians defence failed to stop him from 22m out.

Half time – Woking 26 - 0 Wandsworthians

In earlier league fixtures Woking have been guilty of taking their foot off the pedal and allowing opponents back into games having built a lead. However, on this occasion that was not to be despite some spirited play from Wandsworthians.

Having weathered the early part of the half Woking scored again. Sustained pressure and patient play in the Wandsworthians 22m resulted in hooker Mark Rose having a free run in from 10m under the posts.

With both sides making changes and losing players to injury the game drifted with neither side finding any momentum. However, Watson changed all that with 15 minutes left as he returned a poor clearance kick, taking on a disorganised defence to beat several defenders and cross for his second of the game.

In the final stages of the match Watson went close to getting his hat trick and prop Peter Turner-Wells had a try disallowed controversially. That did not stop Woking from adding to their score as Goddard picked up from the base of ruck to power over from a short distance to grab his second score.

Full-time: Woking 43 - 0 Wandsworthians

Speaking after the game skipper Jacob Woods said, "It was great to get another win. The performance was far from perfect but that is understandable after such a long break. We now have a big game this weekend with league leaders Staines RFC heading to the Rec."