Woodley United started the season with a win against newly promoted Spartan Rovers in Jordan Blake’s first competitive game in charge of the Kestrels.
Had it not been for a man of the match performance by visiting goalkeeper Davis Boateng the win would have been by a greater margin.
Woodley started positively with Boateng called into action early in the game, two fine saves before Spartans’ first attack in the twelfth was thwarted by Kean Greening for a corner kick.
However, against the run of play Rovers opened the scoring in the 23rd minute through Kyran Kellman.
A long pass from the half way line allowed a Rovers’ forward to outjump the home defence where the ball fell to the unmarked Kellman to score pass Sam Dabinett from 12 yards.
United continued to dominate possession that resulted in Ciaron Caralon and Marco DeSousa shooting wide in quick succession.
However, it needed Dabinett to save a penalty two minutes from half time to keep the half time score to a single goal deficit.
Greening was adjudged to have handled the ball when a shot deflected off his boot to his hand with Dabinett palming Kellman’s spot kick away to his left hand side.
The second half started at a frantic pace that saw the home team pepper the visitors’ penalty area with Boateng tipping over his bar a Carolan shot after good work by Janash Brown, McKoy Palmer winning a corner and then seeing Boateng parry a shot and gather from the advancing Carolan.
Kellman’s game came to an end in the 55th minute when he was sent off for violent conduct and two minutes later Woodley was level when good skill in the penalty area followed by a shot saw Brown score his first goal for the club.
Boateng denied Brown form doubling his goal tally as play was mainly in the visitors’ half but it was not until the seventy ninth minute that the hosts’ scored the winning goal.
A long range free kick from Palmer was fumbled by Boateng with substitute Sib Gbla scrambling the ball into the net from close range with his first touch of the ball.
As the game neared its end and Spartans tiring, Woodley comfortably saw the game to full time and give manager Jordan Blake a winning start to his career as first team manager.
Woodley United: Reid, Gough, Carmichael, Goddard, G Smith, Salter, Monteiro (Birkett), Betts, Carolan (Swell), Brandao, Anderson Sub not used: East
Goals: Janash Brown, Sid Gbla, Kyran Kellman
