MAGIC FROM MEKKI SEES RAVENS USE THEIR HEADS

A CRAZY five minutes either side of half-time ultimately proved to be the difference in a very cagey affair between two of the top seven.

In a match of very few clear-cut opportunities, two identical set-piece headers from Jack Holland and Josh Rees sealed the three points for the Ravens, leaving Woking manager Anthony Limbrick to rue his side’s uncharacteristic defending after a solid first quarter of the season.

“I felt there was nothing between the two sides but we conceded two silly goals from free-kicks courtesy of poor defending,” the Cards boss said.

“I’ve looked at the stats and Nathan Baxter had only one save to make in the match so we know it’s not a scoreline that truly reflects the nature of the game.”

With south London feeling the distant effects of Storm Brian, the match took a long time to settle down as both teams struggled to come to terms with the blustery conditions.

Indeed it took until the opening goal for the first real opportunity of the half to present itself three minutes before the break – Adam Mekki’s floated free-kick into the penalty area was mis-judged by Woking’s on-loan Chelsea goalkeeper Nathan Baxter and powerful centre-back Holland was on hand to steer the ball into the net.

England C new boy Joe Ward briefly threatened to equalise for the Cards when his trickery created space in the Bromley penalty area but his effort was well saved by the legs of David Gregory. And Limbrick’s men were made to pay on the stroke of half-time when they doubled their lead with a carbon copy of the opener. Once again Mekki floated in a free-kick, this time finding an unmarked Rees who headed in his fifth league goal of the season. Any hopes Woking had of launching a second-half comeback were all-but dashed just two minutes into the re-start when referee Sam Purkiss adjudged Kane Ferdinand’s 50/50 challenge with Jordan Higgs to be dangerous, and the Cards midfielder was given his marching orders. The sending off killed the game as a contest as Bromley saw out the remainder of the half with ease. What attacking impetus on show in the second half largely came from Woking, although their only real opportunity came 13 minutes from time when Ward’s curling effort from the edge of the box was excellently tipped away by Gregory. Victory sent Neil Smith’s Ravens climbing up menacingly to fifth in the National League table, one point behind Woking in fourth. A delighted Smith said afterwards: “That’s our third clean sheet in a row and another win on the spin. “We’ve been working on set-plays so it’s great to see us benefit from two of them today.”