Non-League Football: Woking count on Walker's talents
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Your support makes all the difference.THE match of the day in the GM Vauxhall Conference tomorrow is at Kingfield, where fourth-placed Woking entertain third-placed Southport. The home side can boast a 13-match unbeaten run - their last league defeat was at Southport in October.
Woking, who are three points behind their visitors and five behind the leaders, Kidderminster, are struggling to cope with a sequence of injuries and suspensions. 'We're down to 12 fit first-team players,' their manager, Geoff Chapple, said yesterday. Among those on the treatment table are two experienced forwards, Mark Biggins and David Puckett, but Chapple's current striking partnership has not let him down.
The 28-year-old former Jamaican international, Lenny Dennis, scored four goals in two cup ties last week, but the top scorer at Kingfield is Clive Walker, the former Chelsea and Brighton player.
Walker, 35, who has scored 12 goals this season, has been 'a revelation', according to Chapple, since being moved up front from midfield. 'We play total football, which suits Clive,' said the manager who has been in charge at Woking for almost a decade.
However, even if Woking capture the Conference title, dreams of elevation to the Football League will have to wait. 'We have not applied this year,' Chapple said. 'We have plans to move to a new ground in the next year or two since, as things stand, Kingfield is not up to scratch.'
The England semi-professional squad for the international against Wales at Bangor on 22 February includes two uncapped goalkeepers with extensive Football League experience: Kettering's Graham Benstead (formerly with Sheffield United and Brentford) and Kidderminster's Kevin Rose (once of Hereford and Rochdale).
ENGLAND SEMI-PROFESSIONAL SQUAD (v Wales, Bangor City FC, 22 Feb): Benstead (Kettering), Rose (Kidderminster); Hone (Welling), Hodson, Humphreys (both Kidderminster), Holden (Kettering), Richardson, Brighton, Webb (all Bromsgrove), Simpson (Stafford), Brabin (Runcorn), Broom (Dagenham and Redbridge), Collins (Enfield), Ross (Marine), Robbins (Welling), Leworthy (Dover).
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