City edge out Dorking in seven goal friendly thriller

A late Donovan Wilson strike gave City a 4-3 friendly win at Dorking Wanderers this afternoon. The goal completed a great comeback from the Romans having trailed the home side 3-1 midway through the half. Prior had headed Dorking in front after 11 minutes but straight from the kick-off Tom Smith nodded the ball down for Tom Richards to lift home the equaliser. On 18 minutes Dorking regained the lead, McManus curling a shot into the top corner after Lloyd James’ poor clearance dropped into his path. And four minutes later it became 3-1 when Muitt’s cross sailed over Ryan Clarke into the net. Three minutes before the interval great work by Smith, winning the ball then sending Alex Fletcher clear with a neat reverse pass, allowed the striker to dink the ball past Howes. Then as the clock reached 45 minutes two Dorking defender crashed into each other to gift possession to Fletcher. He still had work to do but took a couple of touches before lashing a left-foot shot into the roof of the net to make it 3-3. The second half saw both sides tighten up defensively, although Smith was unlucky when he saw a 51st minute shot crash against the angle of post and bar. Just when it looked like the game was end all-square Wilson collected the ball from Smith throw-in, turned his marked and found the back of the net with a low 20-yard shot. It capped a perfect workout for City and attention will now turn to off the pitch and whether the Vanarama National League South season is given the go-ahead to resume next weekend.

City’s Line-Up: Clarke (c); Trialist, Batten, Ball, Evans (Trialist 58); James; Richards, Smith (Trialist 72), Harley; Wilson, Fletcher. Subs not used: Henry, Watts.