In their second clash of a packed Bank Holiday weekend, Gary Johnson’s men head back at Plainmoor tomorrow to take on Woking.
Having gone down to a narrow defeat at Maidstone, the visit of old rivals Woking provides United’s players with the perfect opportunity to get back on track and clinch their first home win of the season in front of their beloved Yellow Army.
Who’s the Boss?
Darren Sarll swapped Somerset for Surrey in a move which saw him depart Yeovil Town to take the helm at Woking earlier this year. Sarll had been at Huish Park since June 2019, and boasted a win percentage of just under 50% during his time with the Glovers, also notably guiding them to the National League play-offs in 2020, as well as the Third Round of the FA Cup where his side bowed out respectfully following a 3-1 loss against Championship side Bournemouth.
After enjoying a playing career himself at a number of non-league clubs, Sarll moved into coaching in 2006, where he began coaching Stevenage’s reserve team, after spending time as youth team manager at Brentford and Rotherham, Sarll returned to Broadhall Way in 2015 to join the first-team coaching staff, where he went on to become the club’s caretaker manager, guiding Stevenage to League Two safety with only one loss in the side’s final nine games. Following on from this he was appointed permanently and spent just over two years at The Boro.
How have they been doing?
Sarll’s side have endured a stop-start beginning to the 2022/23 campaign, with two wins and three losses from their opening five outings. A battling 2-3 home defeat against Wrexham on Saturday was made all the more difficult following an early red card for Kyran Lofthouse, however having already chalked up wins against Scunthorpe and Dagenham in August, our old rivals are sure to prove a tough nut to crack again tomorrow.
Player to Watch
Having departed much-fancied Chesterfield in the summer, midfielder Jim Kellermann will be looking to pull the strings for his new side this season, as The Cards look to mount an EFL promotion bid.
Having risen through the ranks at Wolverhampton Wanderers, a brief trial at Plainmoor failed to materialise into a move to United, however James would go on to gate his first taste on senior action at Aldershot Town in 2016, where he amassed 68 appearances and 8 goals over the course of the next two seasons.
His impressive form for the National League side soon attracted the attentions of Scottish Premiership side St Mirren, however after finding action had to come by north of the border, a return to non-League’s top tier with AFC Fylde saw him rediscover his sharpness, with his last campaign seeing James play a key role in The Spireites’ Play-Off challenge.
Played for Both
Throughout his career Brian Saah made over 200 appearances in the Football League for the likes of Leyton Orient, Dagenham & Redbridge, and Torquay. The 6ft2 centre-back arrived at Plainmoor in July 2011 from Cambridge where he had an England C cap, and was their club captain. Following two seasons at United where he made just shy of 80 appearances, Saah departed in a bid to move back closer to London.
After spending part of the 2014/15 season on loan at Woking, Saah made the move permanent in August 2015 and went on to make just short of 100 appearances for the Cards before his retirement in 2017.
Previous Encounter
28th December 2019: United 4 – 1 Woking
With The Cards travelling to Devon as part of their festive fixture campaign, they would certainly have relished the prospect of facing a United side decimated by injuries, and still smarting from a 6-2 reverse away to local rivals Yeovil just two days earlier.
However, with Johnson’s men summoning all their fighting spirit after falling behind to Jake Hyde’s effort, Torquay responded through Asa Hall and Jamie Reid before the break, and after Godfrey Poku was shown a second half red card, United sealed a memorable 4-1 win, thanks to further strikes from Ben Whitfield and Ruairi Keating.
Supporters unable to attend can listen to full live commentary of the match via Official TUFC Radio here.