Blue Square South
Woking 1 Eastleigh 1
THERE couldn’t be a more apt song title than Swing the Mood to describe the difference at Kingfield just seven days after the old stadium was bristling with FA Cup fever.
Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers topped the UK charts with that particular number in August 1989.
And Tuesday’s meagre attendance of 654 was the lowest league crowd to watch a Cards’ game at this stadium since 515 turned out for a clash with Walton & Hersham 21 years ago.
Never has the phrase ‘a week is a long time in football’ been more appropriate as Kingfield went from being a passion fruit bursting with flavour and vitality to a dried-up satsuma.
Boss Graham Baker admitted it was difficult for his players to lift themselves after being carried along on a wave of euphoria one week, only to be dumped in the surf the next, amid an eerily quiet atmosphere.
They had at least been lifted by a fine FA Trophy win at Dover but once again they failed to transfer decent cup form into the league.
Baker blamed the fact his men faded away so badly in the second half, as Eastleigh equalised Tom Jordan’s own goal and controlled the contest, on fatigue and the “colossal” month his players have had to endure.
“This was a different situation against a side who in the first half looked like they had come for a point,” he reflected. “We got the lead but then fizzled out to what I expected as this was a bunch of lads who just couldn’t go again. They are out on their feet.
“We’ve had some big games and while Eastleigh got on top in the second half, they haven’t had to play Brighton twice, Bromley and Chelmsford in a short space of time. You tell me who, in this league, has had those sort of fixtures this month.”
And Baker conceded that the players were affected by the pitifully low gathering. “Of course players want to play in front of a big crowd.
“It gives them a lift, adrenaline and confidence. It wasn’t going to happen though because Brighton was a massive game and also, it’s been an expensive time for supporters and at the back end of the month they are waiting for their pay cheques.”
Those who did turn out saw Woking perform well in patches in the first half but their effectiveness was nullified by a deep-lying Eastleigh who were happy to play on the break.
It was the visitors who had the better chances though, Tony Taggart unlucky to catch the top of the crossbar with a textbook volley from the edge of the box.
The striker was foiled again soon after, this time by Cards’ keeper Andy Little who was forced to save at his near post after Taggart had robbed Adam Doyle and surged along the byeline.
When Jordan inadvertently turned in Aswad Thomas’s cross from the left, it showed the benefit of making defenders face their own goal while trying to clear. But Woking never really got in behind the visitors’ defence again and generally chased shadows in the second half, Eastleigh free-flowing, with Richard Graham the chief tormentor.
Ten minutes after the break, Taggart made mincemeat of Adam Doyle as he shimmied his way into the box, the brilliant run going unchecked and the ball eventually finding Richard Gillespie who slotted the equaliser.
And Woking had Little to thank for a string of fine saves, the best when he somehow denied former Card Jamie Slabber from point-blank range with a stunning stop – the sort of miss Woking fans will remember all too well.
