Wokingham & Emmbrook's 2009-2010 league programme got underway on Tuesday evening when Penn & Tylers Green were the visitors to Cantley Park. Two goals in the first half and three in the second were enough to seal the points for the home side, giving them the perfect start to the new season. Wokingham were quickly into their stride forcing the visitors to defend. Both Luke Lee and James Wise had early strikes on goal. The first real threat came in the 20th minute after Darren Thorne had set up Andre Stairmand but the wide players effort rebounded of a post. The visitors who set up hoping to get a point went behind in the 26th minute when from a corner they failed to clear the danger the ball eventually fell to Darren Thorne who made no mistake from 6 yards. The visitors only chance of the half fell to Chris Hurst who fired wide after bursting into the area. Wokingham threatened to increase their lead but two excellent saves by keeper John Harding denied both Richard Bland and Wise in the space of a minute, David Bellis then saw his effort cleared off the line as the home side pressed relentlessly forward. With two minutes left on the clock to the interval Bland's pace took him round the back before cutting the ball back to Sam Duffelen, the midfielders effort deflected into the path of Andre Stairmand who finished in style.
The second half saw visiting keeper Harding in good form denying Wokingham on several occasions, be it with excellent saves or a little bit of luck. An early mistake by Steve Tranter allowed the visitors to break but a timely challenge by Grant Lewin saved the day. It was 3 - 0 in the 67th minute when poor defending allowed Bland to break into the area before making no mistake from 10 yards. Wokingham then made a couple of changes with Richard Pilcher and Alex Walton replacing Tranter and Broome. It was 4 - 0 in the 82nd minute when the hard working Lee found the net after good work by Bland. The home side then made their final change when Shane Cooper - Clarke came on for Bland this in the 83rd minute. Within a minute of coming on the young substitute started and finished the move that made it 5 - 0. Combining with the impressive David Bellis, Cooper - Clarke kept his composure to convert from close in. Roger Herridge in charge until Wayne Wanklyn's return from holiday on Friday was full of praise for his young side. " The start couldn't have been better, five goals for and none conceded ". " Had it not been for their keeper god knows what the score would have been, we now have to carry this performance on into our next game against Woodley Town this Saturday ". After the Woodley game, Wokingham travel to Bisley this coming Tuesday to face Farnborough Town Res. Kick off 6 - 30pm.
Team : Harris, Broome ( Walton ), Stairmand, Thorne, Tranter ( Pilcher ), Lewin, Duffelen, Bellis, Bland ( Cooper - Clarke ), Lee, Wise.