After our Advertiser Trophy triumph on Tuesday night, Wanderers ventured to Southampton to face Sholing FC in our fourth preseason fixture. With early injuries becoming a slight concern for Marc and the coaches, 20 different players featured over the course of the afternoon.

It was an unusually unsteady start for our boys, which was best demonstrated when a loose pass intended for Harrison Foulkes played one of the Sholing forwards in behind. With our goalkeeper left in no man’s land, it was Brennan Camp’s goal-line block which prevented Wanderers from going behind.

This was perhaps the error we needed to burst into life. Moments later, Alfie Rutherford picked up possession after a loose pass. He laid the ball off to Frank Vincent, who fizzed a pass back into Rutherford who had set off on a darting run. Our number ten’s first touch was inch perfect as he bypassed a defender, before finding Dennon Lewis on the edge of the box, who finished with great composure into the bottom-right corner. 06’ 0-1

It was Lewis’ second goal for the club, adding to the tally he started on Tuesday night.

The only downside of the opening exchanges was that Niall McManus was withdrawn after ten minutes with an injury – with Luke Moore coming on as his replacement.

After riding wave after wave of Wanderers attacks, the Boatmen were forced to wait until the half hour mark before a clear chance of their own. Dan Mason – the hosts’ number nine – found space to launch an effort which was blocked by a wall of red and white defenders.

The highlight of the first half was undoubtedly our front five, whose relentless movement, passing sequences and positional rotations proved a consistent test the Sholing defence. Despite this, our lead remained just one at half time.

Half Time: Sholing 0-1 Dorking Wanderers

Four substitutions ahead of the second half and a further two before the hour mark did little to unsettle the rhythm we had established. We continued to ease our way into the final third with progressive passes

The hosts had barely had a touch in our box until a loose pass from George Francomb presented a Sholing forward with a chance to run at Foulkes’ goal. The 24-year-old was more than equal to the close-range shot, throwing himself towards the ball and producing a great block.

Our boys continued probing and were rewarded just past the hour mark. Francomb picked up possession on the right side and played an inch perfect cross into Rutherford, who didn’t break his stride to glance the ball past Charlie Searle in the Sholing net. That’s now three goals in two games for our number ten – who Marc considers to be “looking as good as ever”. 63’ 0-2

It was only a few minutes later that a move that had just about everything was finished off by 17-year-old Josh Hebert. A cute dummy from Foulkes sent the Sholing press the wrong way and allowed our boys to link up beautifully down the right side. We continued moving the ball for almost a minute before a cross from the right was picked up by Hebert running off the left. The winger cut inside with ease and finished the move with total confidence, placing his strike in the bottom right corner. 67’ 0-3

After the promising signs of this afternoon, attention now turns to next Saturday, when we welcome Aldershot Town to Meadowbank for our next preseason game.

Full Time: Sholing 0-3 Dorking Wanderers

Match Report by Charlie Partridge