Town go down to newly crowned champions

Town went into their penultimate game of the season facing a Wokingham and Emmbrook side who claimed the title at the weekend.

It was the visitors who started well; forward Luke Scope forced Woodley keeper Dan Smith into a decent stop after finding space on the left side of the box. Continuing their bright start, a James Charlton header narrowly missed Smith's right post following a corner.

Everytime Wokingingham went forward they looked dangerous; Woodley centre back Keyron Hylton had to show good strength to outmuscle Elliot Rushforth which allowed Smith to gather. The pressure was relentless. Scope was put through on the right, rounding Smith he unselfishly chose to look for a team mate rather than shoot which allowed Town to recover and clear their lines.

Twenty minutes in and Scope was sent clear again; this time he shot, however his effort lacked power and Smith was able to save. Despite the majority of play being in Town's half, Woodley were defending well, the two lines of four in front of Smith were working hard and when they got the ball they were trying to pass forward rather than just hoof it clear.

The half wound down with more Wokingham pressure, Charlton saw his well struck drive from just outside the box narrowly miss to the left before a Hylton tackle at full stretch prevented Scope breaking clear.

HT Woodley Town 0-0 Wokingham and Emmbrook

Three minutes after the break saw Wokingham take the lead when a low drive by captain Jake Butler, following Town's failure to clear a corner, beat Smith. Less than sixty seconds later and the visitors doubled their lead when Scope showed good composure cutting back onto his right foot before coolly lofting over Smith.

It took till just before the hour for Town to test Sean Woodward in the opposing goal. A beautifully flighted corner by Jordan Goddard was headed straight at the Wokingham keeper by Lemar Maycock. Minutes later Wokingham got their third when Charlton headed home a Nick Bateman free kick.

Before kicking off Town made their first change when Max Brown made way for Carlton Cox. With nineteen minutes left Wokingham made it four nil in controversial circumstances. Seconds after a throw in on the left the referee seemed to blow his whistle, most Town players correctly stopped for the whistle, however the official allowed the game to continue and substitute Craig Haylett took advantage of it, slotting under Smith.

Town were not happy with the decision and were very vocal about it; before they could kick off they were reduced to ten men when Hylton was sent off for saying too much.

Looking to punish Woodley further, Smith was once again called into action to deny Scope. With the game entering in its final ten minutes, Town made another change when Dominic Sharp replaced debutant David Frimpong.

You couldn't fault Woodley's work ethic; Goddard, who ran himself into the ground all evening, saw his deep free kick gathered by Woodward at the second attempt whilst Town's man of the match, Ben Gonzalez, worked tirelessly down the right wing. As the game fizzled out, Wokingham came within inches of making it five when an effort hit the underside of the bar.

FT Woodley Town 0-4 Wokingham and Emmbrook

Woodley Town
Smith, Burt, Titcombe, Frimpong (Sharp), Hylton, Douglin, Gonzalez, Goddard, Maycock, Brown (Cox), Wareing