Northwood		Ryman League Division 1 North Chestnut Avenue, Northwood	VCD Athletic
Mitch Swain	1	Kick Off	1	James Tedder
Gary Meakin	2	3.00 p.m.	2	Kevin Winchcombe
Gary Burrell	3	Attendance	3	Charlie Burgess
Chris Seeby	4	127	4	Gary Ward
Michael Peacock	5	H/T	5	Chris Tedder
Harry Smart	6	1-0	6	David Hunt
Rob Ursell	7	Scorers	7	Mark Hammond
Mark Burgess (Capt.)	8	Northwood	8	Anthony Hogg
Eugene Ofori	9	Ofori 10, Christian 78	9	Leroy Huggins
Hugo Figueiredo	10	VCD Athletic	10	Alfie Harris
John Christian	11	n/a	11	Nick Hedley
Substitutes		Bookings	Substitutes
Sam Sharples (10, 86m)	12	Northwood	12	Danny Penny (4, 74m)
Danny Power	14	n/a	14	Sam May
Anthony Page (6, 56m)	15	VCD Athletic	15	Uche Ibemere (7, 50m)
Garry Senior (9, 75m)	16	Hogg	16	George Mitchell (3, 74m)
Aaron Bufton	17	Sent Off	17	Lee Maskell
		Northwood
		n/a
		VCD Athletic
		n/a
Referee: Mr Gary Connolly			Assistants: Mr Brian Murdoch & Mr Steve Borham

 

 

Northwood made a winning start to the new campaign with a comfortable win over Ryman League new-boys VCD Athletic. The visitors were making their Ryman League debut following their Kent League championship success last season and they didn’t look out of place at the higher level, although Woods could have won by a greater margin had they been more ruthless in front of goal.

Woods lined up in the 3-5-2 formation that has served them so well in pre-season with Mark Burgess being preferred to Ryan Tackley in the back-line, while Bradley Hewitt continues recover from his ankle injury. There was a first competitive start for Harry Smart in the midfield whilst Hugo Figueiredo partnered Eugene Ofori in attack in the absence of Kyle Matthews, who suffered a hamstring strain in the midweek friendly at Hornchurch.

The game got off to a lively start, and Northwood were quickly on the attack with Ofori having a close-range shot blocked after good work from Figueiredo, before Rob Ursell was beautifully picked out by Michael Peacock’s ranging pass from the back but the Woods’ playmaker was crowded out by the VCD defence.

Northwood were playing with plenty of confidence and Ofori was the next to try his luck with a long-range attempt but his shot was wide of the mark. However, Woods were rewarded for their positive start as they opened the scoring on 10 minutes when Ofori stole in at the near post to head home Gary Burrell’s in-swinging corner.

Northwood had dominated proceedings so far but VCD gradually began to enjoy some decent possession, and Gary Ward had a shot from distance which was comfortably gathered by Woods’ stopper Mitch Swain. Woods were soon on the attack again and both Ursell and Peacock tested James Tedder in the VCD goal but the visiting ‘keeper was up to the task.

At the other end, VCD showed increasing signs of finding their Ryman League feet as they went close to equalising through Alfie Harris, but Swain managed to gather the latter’s looping header.

Woods suffered a blow as they lost goalscorer Ofori to a shoulder injury on the half-hour mark, Gary Senior his replacement in attack. Senior almost made an instant impact as he connected well with Burrell’s far-post cross but his volleyed effort ricocheted off a VCD defender.

An entertaining opening period ended with VCD on the offensive with Swain having to deal with a low shot from Anthony Hogg and a Mark Hammond free-kick, neither effort seriously troubling the Northwood custodian.

Woods were smartly out of the blocks in the second half as they subjected the visitors to a sustained spell of pressure. Senior neatly played in Figueiredo, but his shot rolled inches past the far post, whilst Ursell had a shot turned into the side-netting by Tedder after a neat flick-on from substitute Anthony Page, on as a replacement for Smart. Northwood continued to keep VCD on the back foot, the impressive Burrell having a shot deflected for a corner whilst the lively Figueiredo raced clear of the last defender but saw his shot deflected by Tedder’s legs.

Woods almost suffered a sucker-punch in a rare VCD attack, substitute Uche Ibemere’s header rebounding off the crossbar following a Nick Hegley corner.

Northwood continued to look for the second killer goal, Senior having a wonderful chance with only Tedder to beat, but the striker appeared to have too much time and he dragged his shot wide. However, Woods’ perseverance finally paid off as they made it 2-0 with twelve minutes left on the clock, John Christian firing home the loose ball after good work from Figueiredo.

Sam Sharples made his first competitive Northwood appearance as he replaced Figueiredo for the closing minutes and there was still time for chances at either end, Ursell firing over before Swain made a neat save from Hogg to ensure a clean sheet on a highly satisfactory opening day for Dave Anderson’s men.

Report by ROBIN PIPER

Photos by James Brown