Hornchurch 1 Woking 0 - Second half substitute Aaron Rowe nets on debut as his goal proves enough for Hornchurch to make it three wins from four after battling past Woking in the Enterprise National League

Enterprise National League, Friday 28th August

My Bank Holiday weekend began in Upminster and Bridge Avenue as National League new boys Hornchurch were looking to bounce back from defeat at Carlisle United last weekend against a Woking side who had finally picked up their first win of the campaign last time out.

The Urchins have started their new season in a new division and the pinnacle of the Non League game pretty well, after they saw off fellow promotion winners from last season Kidderminster Harriers at home 3-0 on the opening day, they then went up to Barrow in Cumbria and saw them off 2-1, which was a pretty decent result for sure.

However they then came unstuck up at Carlisle United last weekend and suffered a 4-1 reverse in that one, so tonight was about trying to get themselves back on track against a Woking side who themselves were trying to build on a first win of the season last weekend when they saw off AFC Flyde 3-2, this after losing their opening two games without scoring against Sutton United & then Gateshead.

So, would the hosts bounce back and get back to winning ways, or would the visitors build on that morale boosting result last time out, well, Woking certainly had more of the ball early on but chances were at a premium, and once the hosts had settled they were the ones who actually created the better openings that did come, and they did have the ball in the net just past the half hour mark but it was rightly chalked off for offside.

The Urchins though would have been encouraged by their performance, especially as the half went on, they certainly grew into it, but The Cards then certainly had the better of the opening twenty minutes of the second period as they looked to get on top and control the game, and in their minds make the breakthrough and potentially go on and win the game.

However, they seriously lacked a cutting edge in front of goal, and despite them having a lot of the ball and having plenty of efforts at the hosts goal, I couldn't really remember the keeper making a save, and they also found the home defence rock solid throughout and a tough nut to crack for sure, frustrating both them and their almost 300 strong travelling support.

And once Hornchurch weathered that storm, they began to venture forward themselves, Aaron Rowe, who was making his debut for the hosts, came on just beyond the hour mark, and thirteen minutes after coming on, he was to be the man who broke the deadlock, as in the 75th minute he let fly from outside the box and saw his effort take a deflection which sent in beyond the keeper and into the corner of the net, sending the majority of the 1,447 crowd inside Bridge Avenue wild.

They had around twenty minutes to hold on and record a very good win, Woking applied plenty of pressure, but as said found the hosts to hard to penetrate, and with a lack of cutting edge, they were unable to find a way through, and The Urchins saw out the remainder of the game to net a third win in four games in the National League, a fabulous start to their campaign, sending them into fourth in a very early league table.

For Woking that's three defeats in four, the complete opposite to their opponents this evening, and all three defeats have seen them draw a blank too, leaving them fourth bottom in the table, albeit after just four games, but the lack of grunt up front will concern them although still early days, but for The Urchins it's a great start to the campaign, a campaign they will need to work as hard as they did this evening to be competitive, and it's so far so good.

Full time Hornchurch 1 Woking 0