Dorking Wanderers - Meadowbank
Dorking Wanderers Football Club
Meadowbank
Mill Lane
Dorking
Surrey
RH4 1DX
BRIEF HISTORY/FACTS ABOUT THE CLUB:
Dorking Wanderers Football Club were founded in 1999. A relatively new club, the club started playing in the Crawley & District league. After their first season in the Crawley League they switched to Division Four of the West Sussex League, winning the division at the first attempt. In 2001–02 the club finished as Division Three runners-up, earning a third consecutive promotion. After winning Division Two in 2003–04 they were promoted to Division One, and a third-place finish in Division One in 2005–05 saw them promoted to the Premier Division. In 2006–07 Dorking won the West Sussex League's Premier Division, winning the title with a win on the last day of the season. As a result, the club were promoted to Division Three of the Sussex County League. They went on to win Division Three in 2010–11, earning promotion to Division Two. A third-place finish in Division Two the following season was enough to see them promoted to Division One. However, the league initially denied them entry to the division as their ground was not deemed to meet the necessary requirements. However the club appealed against this decision to the Football Association, who over-ruled the decision after an independent ground grading visit confirmed that the ground reached the mandatory standards for Division One football. Although the team initially struggled in Division One, finishing third-from-bottom in 2012–13, they finished second in 2014–15, earning promotion to Division One South of the Isthmian League. In Dorking's first season in the Isthmian League they finished as runners-up in Division One South, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, going on to lose 2–1 to Faversham Town in the semi-finals. The following season saw them finish second again; in the play-offs they beat Hastings United on penalties in the semi-final after a 1–1 draw, and then won again on penalties against Corinthian-Casuals in the final following a 0–0 draw, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2018–19 the club won the Premier Division title, earning promotion to the National League South.
MY VISIT:
Dorking Wanderers 0-2 Oxford City
Tuesday 29th October 2019
National League South
It's been a fair old while since I last done a blog on a new ground I've visited, my last being Bank Holiday Monday in August for Hungerford v Dartford. I hadn't done any Groundhopping really since then as I hadn't had the urge on doing so, but was pleased to get another ground in for this one. My dad had always mentioned about ticking Dorking off, and with only an hour's journey from home in the car, it was always going to be done eventually. So after noticing they were at home on this Tuesday, I mentioned it and decided to do it. After leaving home around 6.20pm, a quick stop off for fuel on the way, we made it to the ground literally dead on kick off.
THE GAME:
As just mentioned, I made the game dead on kick off, with Dorking sitting in the play offs, and the visitors Oxford City just 2 points above the drop zone, my money on tonight's game would have been a comfortable home win. A great 1st half to watch with both sides pressuring each other to win the ball back, and also saw Dorking hitting the woodwork in the 1st half. All square at half time, and the 2nd half quickly sparked into life as the visitors took the lead on 49 minutes from Nana Owusu's penalty (I missed it on what the penalty was for) and the 2nd came 7 minutes later through a good shot which went past the keeper onto the bar and in the net. Dorking kept pressing and trying to find ways to get a goal but only to be denied with some good defending from the visitors. A great win from Oxford and also realising they have a new management team in place now. Below is a better report from the Oxford City website.
THE GAME:
As just mentioned, I made the game dead on kick off, with Dorking sitting in the play offs, and the visitors Oxford City just 2 points above the drop zone, my money on tonight's game would have been a comfortable home win. A great 1st half to watch with both sides pressuring each other to win the ball back, and also saw Dorking hitting the woodwork in the 1st half. All square at half time, and the 2nd half quickly sparked into life as the visitors took the lead on 49 minutes from Nana Owusu's penalty (I missed it on what the penalty was for) and the 2nd came 7 minutes later through a good shot which went past the keeper onto the bar and in the net. Dorking kept pressing and trying to find ways to get a goal but only to be denied with some good defending from the visitors. A great win from Oxford and also realising they have a new management team in place now. Below is a better report from the Oxford City website.
"Nana Owusu’s quickfire second-half double ensured that a fine all-round team performance from Oxford City didn’t go unrewarded as they earned a very well deserved 2-0 victory away at Dorking Wanderers at Meadowbank on Tuesday night."
"Owusu’s seven-minute salvo began just two minutes into the second period as he converted from the spot, before a stunning second just minutes later would end up sealing the points for the Hoops."
"City’s new look management team of Andy Ballard and Justin Merritt made their lives, and the life of a match reporter, easy as they named a completely unchanged squad to that which earned a 2-1 win over Slough Town on Saturday afternoon."
"Owusu’s seven-minute salvo began just two minutes into the second period as he converted from the spot, before a stunning second just minutes later would end up sealing the points for the Hoops."
"City’s new look management team of Andy Ballard and Justin Merritt made their lives, and the life of a match reporter, easy as they named a completely unchanged squad to that which earned a 2-1 win over Slough Town on Saturday afternoon."
THE GROUND:
The club originally played at Big Field Brockham before moving to Westhumble Playing Fields on London Road in 2007. In July 2018, the club moved to Meadowbank which had been the home of Dorking FC prior to their disbanding. Their 1st game at the ground was a friendly against Sutton United. The ground holds 2,000 with 500 seats. The ground is near to 3 train stations which is very rare! Dorking main station is around a 15 minute walk, Dorking Deepdene 10 minutes and Dorking West (not many trains stop there) 10 minutes.
GROUND PHOTOS:
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