The stewards (orange hi-vis) were incredibly friendly, and I suspect all volunteers. A credit to their club. I guess the segregation was effective if it had got a bit fiesty (rather than the game being mostly a damp squib) - certainly compared to our yellow barriers on wheels anyway!

Was able to get a programme and a good view at the front so on those metrics it was alright. I also massively appreciated the tickets being sold by DW on a fair 'priority order' basis, and scanned in by the always friendly and welcoming Alan and Matt. Hopefully that continues for any away play off matches. And I got to stand next to Tommy our own steward/match co-ordinator for much of the game, and he is brilliant.

Just would have liked the divide on the covered terrace to have been a bit further down. Especially considering that the ground supposedly already had internal capacity for 4000.

Just seen the statement issued by JB on the flare. How many were thrown or was it just one after we scored ? 

@gary-munnery Just one mate. No big deal imo, but daft on plastic. Happened to us enough times. And it's been a pretty regular occurrence at away games.

Slightly more concerning is reports of trouble at the train station, with at least one arrest and someone claiming that a Dorking fan tried to throw a younger Worthing fan onto the track. All hearsay btw so might be something and nothing. 

Whilst it is far from every away game, getting fed up with the flares, it means we get OTT searches at some away grounds as a result. Especially stupid to throw it on the pitch too, you could see it did some damage. And the 200ish who go away every week don't need police presence, but just as well they were at the station. It's needless and tiresome really.

If we get away play off games I wouldn't be averse to restricting ticket sales in some way - no general sale, just s/t holders, owners, regular coach travellers etc, people the club knows and has the details of. Random people with no affiliation or no purchase history at all shouldn't get a look in. 

I agree it is embarrassing for the club and not what we want. Let’s hope the excellent statement by Jonathan Bines has some impact. 

Some other clubs, particularly in NL, bring with them community support officers to deter any stupid behaviour from fans. We have never needed that and hope we never will. The stewards from the club did their best to help identify the idiots in the ground but they can’t be everywhere before the game of course.  

It would be a shame to stop the BoA tourists from getting tickets  and other casual fans. Some well targeted and publicised club bans to anyone misbehaving should be a good first step at least. And some stiff warnings before away play off games. 

Posted by: @dorking-eagle

↑

Whilst it is far from every away game, getting fed up with the flares, it means we get OTT searches at some away grounds as a result. Especially stupid to throw it on the pitch too, you could see it did some damage. And the 200ish who go away every week don't need police presence, but just as well they were at the station. It's needless and tiresome really.

If we get away play off games I wouldn't be averse to restricting ticket sales in some way - no general sale, just s/t holders, owners, regular coach travellers etc, people the club knows and has the details of. Random people with no affiliation or no purchase history at all shouldn't get a look in. 

We were talking about this on the way back last night. Maybe the club should get everyone to register as a member (free of charge). They then get their own unique membership number. That way the club can keep track of everyone's purchase history. Anyone caught causing trouble away or at home could then be singled out, stripped of their membership and unable to buy any tickets for future games home or away.

We went back to the pub after the game, Kris was there and said that the bigger profile the club is getting, the bigger fan base we have following us. Unfortunately you get the odd moron amongst the away support who think its big to cause disruption etc.

I agree Steve

You'll never see those ones at Torquay on a Tuesday night.

Thing is for the club to work on a member basis, it means they have to sell the tickets every time (and then do the scanning). I appreciate it for the very biggest games where it looks like not enough tickets, but it's a waste of everyone's time when it's Salisbury away, we take 220 and our end holds 1000

For totally selfish reasons if we have to be away I hope it's Borehamwood or Torquay where at least I can get a good seat rather than having to be in place a couple of hours before ko to be sure of a standing space at the front.

I agree on the membership. I’m not a ST holder as yet, but I’d certainly pay 20/30/40 for a membership, if it had some benefits and the club could monitor where the sales go. Makes sense really 

Posted by: @adeb

↑

Slightly more concerning is reports of trouble at the train station, with at least one arrest and someone claiming that a Dorking fan tried to throw a younger Worthing fan onto the track. All hearsay btw so might be something and nothing. 

I was at the station for all of it going on but definitely did not see anyone try and throw someone on the track, although there was a lot of people there so I might have missed something.

The Dorking kids came in to the station in a big group and it kicked off a bit with an older guy (not sure if he was a Worthing fan or not but I assume so). The older guy then tried to throw the phone of one of the kids on to the tracks but failed and a Dorking fan pushed or punched (I actually missed the impact so didn't see if it was a push or punch) him to the ground. The kid was then arrested.

Was all really embarassing and becoming more and more of a problem for Dorking this season. Less said about it the better.

In terms of the ground, that new stand is great and something we should be looking to add at Meadowbank, however they really should have given us an extra 5 metres or so of it and taken the divide on the other side to the edge of that stand where the goal is. One small bar with nowhere to queue was not sufficient for that many people.

On the pitch, Marc summed it all up perfectly in the post match. Very poor game although we probably shaded it in terms of chances but they had the better possession and control. I think the line-up was probably a mistake and JNW should have started, either at left of the 3 or the LWB role. Josh Taylor was clearly a big miss as well as we got overan in midfield a bit once Odei came on for Cashman.

A concern for me was that we only had 4 outfield players start under the age of 30 and it really showed towards the end of the match. Adding more youth, pace and athleticism to the squad is an absolute must this Summer.

Definitely looking like the eliminators now which is a shame but hopefully we can at least get 4th or 5th with a win this weekend. I would lean towards resting players against Chesham (Prior, Rutherford, Muitt, Carter, Craig) though as next week will be very tough. I do think Truro or Torquay will win the league which helps us a little bit in terms of travel for playoffs.

@calvertskans Yes agree re that stand. Just needed a few more metres as it was verging on a bit of a crush tbh. Other than that, it's really good from a viewing perspective, height and distance from the pitch are perfect. We would do very well to copy that almost exactly at Meadowbank.

Re the fans - saw lots of weird stuff in the ground with Worthing (?) fans in their end next to us gesticulating with their phones, as if getting Dorking to get in touch - or did they know each other? And then young lads from both sides chatting to each other by the barriers at half time. Also small scuffle in that bit shortly after the goal (our fans in their end?) - and something in our end too that I couldn't see. 

There is a video going round of the station incident where the phone was slapped out of a fans hands onto the floor then it went mental for a short while.

Stats tell the story really:

Possession: Worthing 57% - 43% Dorking

Shots (On Target): Worthing 8 (2) - 14 (5) Dorking

xG: Worthing 0.99 - 1.61 Dorking

Top Performer: Alfie Rutherford [7.7]

Posted by: @dorking-eagle

↑

There is a video going round of the station incident where the phone was slapped out of a fans hands onto the floor then it went mental for a short while.

Where did you see that David?

@steve1966 My son was sent a video of it by someone who filmed it.

Definitely a change of style in recent weeks. We've had less than 50% possession in 6 of the last 8 games whereas we only had less than 50% in 2 of the first 37 games!