Northwood		Pre-season friendly Bridge Avenue, Upminster	AFC Hornchurch
Aaron Bufton	1	Kick Off	1	Darren Behcet
Gary Meakin	2	7.45 p.m.	2	Billy Coyne
Gary Burrell	3	Attendance	3	Donny Barnard
Mark Burgess (Capt.)	4	150	4	John Purdie
Danny Power	5	H/T	5	Mark Goodfellow
Michael Peacock	6	0-0	6	Andy Tomlinson
Rob Ursell	7	Scorers	7	Mark Janney
Anthony Page	8	Northwood	8	Ross Wall
Hugo Figueiredo	9	n/a	9	Gary Bower
Kyle Matthews	10	AFC Hornchurch	10	Soz Yao
Harry Smart	11	Wall 83	11	Elliott Styles
Substitutes		Bookings	Substitutes
Lee Holland (6)	12	Northwood	12	Michael Bowditch (1)
John Christian (7)	14	n/a	14	Dave Collis (2)
Prince Toku (10)	15	AFC Hornchurch	15	Michael Spencer (3)
Laurie Walters (3)	16	n/a	16	Joe Stevens (4)
Sam Sharples (11)	17	Sent Off	17	Ron Fletcher (5)
		Northwood	18	Dean (6)
		n/a	19	Steve Butterworth
		AFC Hornchurch	20	Jamal (9)
		n/a	21	Jon Green (10)

 

The Woods completed their pre-season campaign with a trip to Ryman Premier side Hornchurch, perhaps testing the team's resolve as they face similar trips to East London and Essex throughout the next nine months!!

Eugene Ofori, Chris Seeby, Mitch Swain and Ryan Tackley were all given a rest, so there were starts for Hugo Figueiredo, Danny Power, new goalkeeper Aaron Bufton and Anthony Page, the latter just back from his holidays.

Hornchurch were in a similar position as they prepared for their opening game at Tonbridge Angels, but it was the Woods who settled quickest and enjoyed the early possession.

After just 7 minutes Gary Burrell received a good ball into the box and took it down well but despite beating goalkeeper Darren Behcet, the ball flashed just wide of the post.

Bufton was called into debut action just three minutes later when Mark Burgess lost possession to the pacy Gary Bower, who raced forward and let fly but the 'keeper saved well low down.

The Woods forced a succession of corners which were well delivered by both Kyle Matthews and Burrell but the side was lacking in the height required to gain any advantage in the box.

After 28 minutes Gary Meakin stormed forward to link up with the attack and set up Rob Ursell, who curled his shot inches wide of the far post.

Bower continued to be the main threat for the Urchins and he raced past Michael Peacock from the right flank and whipped in a cross, which Harry Smart did well to clear for a corner.

Just before the break, Figueiredo broke down the right in a dangerous move and although his cross was disappointing, a half-clearance fell to Meakin and Behcet did well to save his deflected shot on goal.

The only risk to playing a game so close to the start of the league season was the chance of picking up an injury, and it was Kyle Matthews that pulled up with a hamstring strain just before the break.

For the second half he was replaced by Prince Toku, who had a spell with the Woods a year or so ago. He was joined by Lee Holland, Laurie Walters and Sam Sharples for the start of the second period, with Burrell, Peacock and Smart also making way. John Christian then replaced Ursell on 57 minutes.

Hornchurch had the better of the exchanges but without really threatening the Northwood goal, and after 62 minutes Walters raced onto a through-ball from Toku and beat the hesitant 'keeper to it out wide. He crossed, hoping that someone had made it into the middle, but it took a while for Meakin to get to the ball, and his shot was comfortably cleared by a defender.

The final fifteen minutes saw the Urchins really begin to threaten, with Elliott Styles heading over and then Steve Butterworth heading another cross completely in the wrong direction when well placed.

The only goal of the game came after 83 minutes. Walters dived in to concede a free-kick for a foul on Butterworth on the left-hand edge of the box and when Dave Collis's free-kick wasn't dealt with, it was Ross Wall who managed to hook it past Bufton, via a deflection.

The Woods rallied late in the game and almost levelled things up in the final minute when Figueiredo fired in a shot from the left, but the ball was deflected just wide when it looked like creeping into the corner.

All-in-all, Dave Anderson was pleased with what he felt was a useful workout and he now has to try and pick his best sixteen for Saturday's opening fixture against VCD Athletic.

Report by ALAN EVANS