Dorking Wanderers Reserves 0 v 4 Sandhurst Town

Saturday 9th March 2019
Combined Counties League Division One
Meadowbank Stadium, Dorking
Admission: £6.00
Programme: Online only
Attendance: 47

I decided to stay fairly local today, partly because yet more rail engineering works on my local train line would make journeys even longer and more inconvenient than usual these days. Geographically, today's visit to the Meadowbank Stadium could be considered a revisit, however every element of the inside of the ground has been completely transformed since my previous visit, and there is a different home club now. As my only previous visit to the former incarnation of the Meadowbank was some 26 years ago, this did feel like a new ground for me to visit in any case.

The Meadowbank Stadium is located about a ten minute walk from Dorking Deepdene train station,  much of it a pleasant walk alongside the Pipp Brook tributary of the River Mole, and finally the Meadowbank Park. The football ground is located just beyond the park, with the town centre very close by up a short incline. After the ground fell into disrepair to the extent that former club Dorking FC were evicted in 2013, a move which probably paved the way for their sad demise after 137 years in existence, the ground has been completely and impressively redeveloped, re-opening after some delays last summer. The new stadium was certainly worth the wait, with the result a sensibly sized ground, that is very easy on the eye and offers impressive fan friendly facilities - albeit that some of those are not in use for reserve team fixtures like today. The exterior of the stadium along the main entrance side certainly gives a preview of what is to come, with a group of connected buildings with a modern design and a nice blend of white and red walls, with some timber cladding. The headquarters of the Surrey FA are located at the end closest to the entrance to the complex, which is connected to a building with a lower roof housing the changing rooms, and then there is the main entrance to the ground, with a taller roof to match the height of the Surrey FA's headquarters. Spectators entered the ground through this entrance today, paying admission at a small reception area, as the turnstile blocks either side were not in use. After walking through the corridor from reception, the "matchday bar" could be accessed by climbing a flight of stairs, and a very impressive lounge bar it is too - bright, modern, airy and comfortable, offering a combination of tables and chairs, comfy seating and sofas, with sit-down matchday meals available, and the windows along the front offer an excellent elevated indoor view of the action. This was the only place where food and drinks could be purchased today, as the pitchside hatch and also a wooden hut, which both normally sell refreshments, were both closed today. Straddling the half way line is a stand containing 6 rows of seating, and good elevation to the seating and then between each row ensures good unobstructed views of the action. Towards the far corner from the entrance along this length is a metallic stand with a couple of terrace steps. A similar stand is located just around the other corner behind the other byline. There is just hard standing around the rest of the ground, with wooden panel fencing enclosing the ground. To complete the total transformation of the ground from its previous guise, a 3G plastic pitch has been installed. One thing that has remained constant about the ground is its picturesque setting, with the town's church visible close behind and above the main stand, and the hills of the North Downs also visible - albeit the view is not quite as spectacular as it was at Dorking Wanderers' previous ground at Westhumble Playing Fields. The new stadium's tastefully designed buildings around one corner of the ground augments its appearance. It is difficult to find any fault in the stadium - centrally located, smartly designed in terms of appearance and size, and to use modern parlance, a "visitor experience" that one would rarely encounter at this level, yet it still feels like a real football ground, avoiding the negative trappings of modern football commercialism which can often produce sterile environments. For the club's Under 23 team fixtures, no hard copies of the programme are produced, instead an online version is available for download, a 40 page pdf document that is very readable, way above average from what one usually encounters at Step 6, and includes more than enough reading material about both clubs, the necessary stats and facts, and also plenty of information about the first team.

Whilst Dorking Wanderers' first team appear to be romping towards the Isthmian League Premier Division title, their reserve team are having a steady time of it back in the Combined Counties League Division One this season after stepping down from senior football for two seasons. They came into this game in ninth place, following 11 wins and five draws from their 29 league games, but came into this game in bad form, losing 7-1 away at Sutton Common Rovers in the Surrey Senior Cup in midweek, drawing last Saturday which followed three straight defeats, conceding 12 goals in the process. In the table, they were two points and one place behind Sandhurst Town, themselves back in this league after a two season absence, in their case due to lateral movement to the Hellenic League Division One East. They had won 12 and drawn four of their 24 league games, thereby having five games in hand over Dorking Wanderers Reserves. When the two teams met in the reverse fixture back in early October, the match ended 2-2.

On a mostly sunny afternoon which started off warm but became cold in a biting wind during the second half, this was a game that Sandhurst always had the upper hand in, but particularly so in the second half. With barely a minute on the clock, the visitors saw a long range shot hit the woodwork via a slight deflection, and on 7 minutes, the ball was volleyed low just wide of the far post. They really should have taken the lead on 14 minutes, when the ball was deflected forward for their striker to run onto for a one-on-one with the keeper, but he placed the shot just wide of the left hand post. But they did take the lead on 33 minutes, and a very good goal it was too. Bobby Mitchell started running from his own half, withstood a foul as he ran forward with the referee playing advantage, eventually jinking his way into the penalty area before firing low past the keeper. On 41 minutes, the ball was curled beautifully by a Sandhurst player forward from just inside the area over the defenders and keeper, but the ball bounced off the underside of the bar, and a team mate poked the loose ball just wide of the far post. And in first half stoppage time, a diagonal ball forward towards the six yard box just evaded a decisive touch to score. For all of Sandhurst's chances, the home side had the odd sight of goal, and the game was still very much in the balance at the break.

And so it remained until the 63rd minute, when the visitors doubled their lead, substitute Paul Rake heading a corner just under the bar and into the net. And four minutes later, it was pretty much game over with another terrific goal by Mitchell, another mazy run through midfield ended with a low shot across the keeper and into the net from outside of the area. Sandhurst were really in the ascendancy by now, breaking forward virtually at will as Dorking's youngsters struggled to contain the forward runs. Sandhurst scored their fourth on 73 minutes, after the ball was crossed high into the box, the keeper couldn't claim it, and after a couple of attempts, Luke Burrows poked the loose ball into the net. They had further chances to increase their lead, but they did not manage to, and in added on time, Dorking Wanderers' left back Luke Cunningham was shown a straight red card in the aftermath of a foul.