Woking 5-1 Hythe Town - The game was never easy, admits Woking boss Baker

Although Woking - in fourth place in the table and just five points behind leaders Dover Athletic -  won this second qualifying round replay by four clear goals, the score-line had a flattering feel to it as Hythe went into the 80th minute at just 2-1 down.

Hythe, who held the Cards to a 2-2 draw at Reachfields Stadium at the weekend, were without influential defender Gavin Ransley, who arrived at Kingfield Stadium on crutches, nursing a broken metatarsal, so Kent’s prolific strike-force (with 18 goals) of Pat Kingwell (who partnered Sam Marsh in the heart of defence) and Kieran Byrne was broken up.

Kieran Byrne therefore partnered Aiden Pursglove up front, and it was Pursglove who gave away a soft  tenth minute penalty for a foul on Giuseppe Sole and the former Ebbsfleet United midfielder scored the first of his first two goals to settle the nerves.

Sole netted his second early in the second half, but Hythe fought back and deservedly pulled a goal back in the 57th minute through Dave Cook’s fourth goal of the season.

But Hythe’s brave hearts ultimately ran out of gas and two goals from Woking’s academy striker Ola Sognbanmo and an injury time finish from Sam Sloma made it a harsh 5-1 scoreline on a Hythe Town side that were NOT outclassed by full-time professionals, despite the final score suggesting they were!

“They might be in theory three levels below us, but you could see they have some quality players in their team,” Baker told www.kentishfootball.co.uk afterwards.

“It’s going to be between them and Faversham as to whose going to win their league this year and it won’t surprise me if they come on strong and win their league.

“They’re very experienced players, they’ve got good talent, a talented midfield player, a talented midfield player, a talented front man and to be fair to them they lost their centre half tonight and they played their centre forward at centre half so that obviously didn’t help.

“They’ve come here and given a good account of themselves.  There was a spell in the second half where they played some nice football and had us under pressure for about 15-20 minutes so all credit to them.

“I’ll take my hat of to them.  They put on two great shows in the two games and I wish them all the best for the season.”

In front of a silent sparse crowd of 761, it was Hythe that created the first chance of the game.

The Kent League side created a move down the left and Adam Hooper laid the ball back to the impressive Gary Clarke, but the midfielder’s right-footed drive from 25-yards flashed past the foot of the near post.

But Woking eased their nerves as they were awarded a tenth minute penalty, which was converted by Sole - who scored Woking’s second from the spot in east Kent at the weekend.

Fola Onibuje flashed a cross from the right across the penalty area and the danger seemed to have passed, only for Hythe striker Pursglove to challenge Sole clumsily just inside the box on the left hand side and referee Mr Saliy pointed to the spot.

Sole stepped up and sent Kieron Mann the wrong way with a right-footed spot-kick, which he coolly despatched into the bottom right-hand corner.

Mann was beaten again in the 16th minute when former Welling United midfielder Harry Harter crashed a volley into the top far corner - but the whistle had already been blown for a foul n central defender Sam Marsh.

Hythe fully matched their higher league opponents for the first 80 minutes and there was no gap in class until tiredness crept into their ranks.

Highly-rated Mann made his first save of the night in the 28th minute, when he blocked Sole’s low right-footed drive at his near post and caught the ball comfortably as the ball looped up.

The former Folkestone Invicta stopper’s next save arrived just two minutes later.

Delano Sam-Yorke slipped the ball to Harter, whose back-heel set up another chance for Sole and his left-footed curling effort was beaten out by Mann at head-height, despite unsighted with bodies in front of him.

Woking keeper Ross Worner, back in the side after missing Saturday’s tie in Kent, made his only save of the night in the 33rd minute.

Left-sided midfielder Adam Hooper laid the ball off for Byrne, whose angled right-footed drive from 25-yards bounced into the keeper’s arms.

Woking skipper Tom Hutchinson really should have headed home following Sole’s in-swinging corner from the left, but the central defender headed down and into Mann’s grateful arms from six-yards.

But Woking got the second half off to a great start as they doubled their lead just 182 seconds into the half.

Left-back Sam Sloma cut inside Lee Winfield, who lost his footing, and his cross towards the far post was knocked down by Fola Onibuje and Sole swept a right-footed shot across Mann to find the bottom far corner.

The quick Onibuje squandered an excellent chance to put the game to bed, when he dragged his shot wide of the far post after being released down the right.

But Hythe’s spirited efforts were rewarded as they got themselves back into the game in the 57th minute in what was a good spell for the Kent coastal club.

Clarke sprayed an excellent diagonal pass from the middle of the park for Winfield to whip in an accurate right-footed cross from the left flank and Cook rose to glance his header across Worner and into the top far corner.

Hythe grew in confidence, although they didn’t have enough class to trouble Worner again, but playing full-time opposition twice in three days finally took its toll late on.

Woking went on to score three heartbreaking goals in the space of the last ten minutes - such hard luck on a Hythe Town side that were in the game up to that point.

In fact Hythe threw bodies forward in the 81st minute as Worner plucked Byrne’s free-kick out of the air and turned defence into attack by releasing Sole down the left with a long throw.

Sole’s chipped cross found teenage striker Sogbanmu who turned and smashed a low drive past Mann’s despairing dive to find the bottom far corner.

Seconds later it was four as Sole’s cross from the left was met by Sogbanbu in the goal-mouth and the striker powered his header down and past Mann.

Brave Hythe still had one more chance in their locker but substitute Scott Punton’s header looped across the face of goal.

Hythe didn’t deserve to concede five, but the goal arrived just eight seconds into time added on when two-goal hero Sogbanmu cut the ball back for Sloma to pick his spot - the bottom left-hand corner - with his left foot.

Manager Scott Porter was a proud man afterwards as the Hythe Town boss appreciated the efforts of his battling side and admitted to www.kentishfootball.co.uk afterwards that - like most matches in this great Cup competition - fitness told in the end.

Porter spoke to his troops out on the lush playing surface before stepping down off the pitch and said, “The lads have worked their socks off tonight and the score line doesn’t show how well we’ve worked and how much we’ve worried them.

“The dreams obviously over now, we know that, it’s a bit of a buzz but I can’t fault every single one of the boys.  

“Taking a team as much as Woking and what they do and how they set up, is fantastic.

“I don’t think the scoreline shows how well we’ve played.   It’s just tired legs, they’ve brought on people who are fit as you like, (our players) go to work, it’s just the fitness that showed and that’s what I’ve said out there (to the players out on the pitch at the final whistle).

“We can learn a lot from these two games and hold our heads up high.  Everyone deserves a pat on the back and I can’t fault them.  It’s been a great achievement by the football club.”

Porter, whose five match FA Cup campaign has brought in £5,250 in FA prize money and also the gate receipts from two games against Woking, added, “I am proud for the team and I’m proud of the players.  They’ve shown a lot of faith in me.  It’s been a great achievement and a great experience for us.

“We did get a goal, which was good, but that’s the way it is.  We didn’t really expect to come here (and win), we did, saying that, I thought we could cause an upset.  

“We gave a crap goal away, first goal, but we’re still in the game, but we give another crap goal away but then we get ourselves back in the game.”

Porter acknowledged how much determination that his side put into the two games.

He said: “The lads are absolutely knackered, we took them all the way.  If we could end it at 80 minutes then it would’ve been ideal.  It all boils down to fitness, you could see that for yourself.”

Woking boss Baker, meanwhile, admitted his side didn’t have it all their own way for an evenly contested first 80 minutes before the floodgates opened.

“We took a while to catch up with them but the game was never easy or safe at 1-0,” he said.

“We dominated the first half, played some nice football without hitting the back off the net more than once.

“Whenever you’re in that situation you how all it takes is a slip or a goal from them to put them back in the game.

“We got the second, even then it’s not comfortable.  Once Hythe got their’s, they’re back in it, they dug in again, they find new energy and I thought they did well second half for a 20 minute spell but once we got the third, obviously we broke their hearts and we got four and five.”