Early strike sinks City at Dorking

City suffered a first defeat under new manager Darren Way at Dorking Wanderers this afternoon. The only goal of the game came after just three minutes and, despite an energetic second half performance, City couldn’t find an equaliser against the play-off chasing home side.

What turned out to be the decisive goal came from an unmarked header by Prior from Milsom’s cross. The home side looked to build on this fast start, enjoying the majority of possession, but it wasn’t until approaching the half-hour mark that they tested Harvey Wiles-Richards, Carter and Muitt seeing efforts well saved by the keeper. City began to impose themselves on the game during the later stages of the half, Scott Wilson and Jordan Alves seeing long range efforts fly narrowly wide, but half time arrived with Prior’s goal separating the sides.

City carried this momentum into the second half and they began to get on top, although Wanderers continued to pose a threat going forward. One such break saw Rutherford head narrowly over on 58 minutes. Five minutes later Wilson burst into the area where Camp timed his tackle perfectly and Brad Ash saw his follow-up shot blocked by another defender. City continued to push forward but hosts were defending resolutely. With seven minutes left Wiles-Richards saved well at the feet of Carter to ensure a nervous finale for Dorking. However, despite a number of corners and free-kicks City failed to find a way through the massed ranks of red shirts to bring an end to their three-game unbeaten run.