Ex-Portsmouth strikers offered non-league chance after Ipswich, Millwall and Colchester heartache
A former Pompey pair have been handed the chance to win deals with Woking.
Strikers Destiny Ojo and Sam Folarin both started the Cardinals’ first pre-season friendly on Saturday.
They featured for the opening 45 minutes against Horsham, before being replaced at half-time in the goalless draw at the Camping World Community Stadium.
Woking boss Michael Doyle knows the duo well from his time as assistant in Pompey’s Academy last season and subsequently offered the free agents an opportunity to impress.
Folarin, who made one Blues appearance, previously had trials at Millwall and Ipswich at the end of last term, yet is now looking around the non-league game for a club.
He was among 10 second-year scholars released by Pompey at the campaign’s end, with not a single youngster from that under-18s age group retained.
Although the powerfully-built Folarin did come off the bench for John Mousinho in November 2023 against Leyton Orient in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy and was named in three first-team cup squads overall.
However, he suffered short and unsuccessful loans at Poole and the Rocks, which both saw him return to the Blues early.
Ojo, who spent 2023-24 on loan at Poole, Sholing and Lancing, had previously trialled at Colchester, who are managed by his former Fratton Park head coach Danny Cowley.
The attacker was a third-year professional, although never featured in a competitive match for the Blues’ first-team, unlike Folarin.
Instead he impressed while on loan at Southern League Premier South side Poole, scoring six times and registering three assists in 22 outings, of which seven were starts.
Nonetheless, following the duo’s trials with Football League clubs, attention has now turned to National League Woking, who finished 17th last season.
Doyle took over in December 2023, with the club having won three times in three months and dangerously being dragged into a relegation battle.
In his first managerial job, the Pompey League Two title-winning skipper subsequently secured their safety, ending up three points clear, and is now overhauling the Cardinals this summer.
Ojo and Folarin were among four triallists in Saturday’s starting line-up against Horsham, which was watched by a crowd of 581.