The Woods crashed to their second successive home defeat at the hands of an improving Egham Town side that was good value for the three points and have now kept five successive clean-sheets. Northwood will have their excuses for the defeat, with the game coming less than 48 hours after the County Cup thrashing on a heavy pitch at Hampton & Richmond Borough and went into the match without top scorer Niko Muir, who picked up an ankle injury in that game.

Goalkeeping problems continued as well and this time it was 17-year-old youth team keeper Dan Daggett who was given his debut; the fifth player to take a turn between the sticks in the last five matches and the ninth custodian of the season!

It was the first home game on a Saturday for over two months and the Woods were hoping for a victory that would have kept them on the heels of the play-off contenders but it was the visitors who started quickest. Apart from an Oliver Sprague free-kick which was easily taken by Egham keeper Jamie Norris, the away side had all the early efforts on goal. Mo Harkin was first to test Daggett but he saved comfortably and the same player had several other strikes that were less accurate. The speedy front pairing of Reis Stanislaus and Ryan O’Toole were causing some problems for the Northwood back-line, but also for the referee and both found their way into the book in the opening half-hour.

The Woods eventually started to make some inroads with Jerome Federico linking up with Karl Oliyide and then shooting from distance but Norris was equal to that and also another strike from the same player soon after. James Duncan made an excellent tackle to deny Stanislaus a chance on goal and then Josh Andrew finished a good run with a fine shot which was palmed wide by Daggett. From the resulting corner from Mo Harkin, Chandiram headed for goal but it came back off the post.

With five minutes to go to half-time, the Woods should have stolen a lead as Oliyide got through down the middle but his final touch was too heavy and Norris grabbed his chance. But having survived to half-time, expectations were still high that Northwood would push on from there, especially with the wind behind them in the second half.

They started it well, forced an early corner and Steve Brown wasn’t far away with his downward header which Oliyide then steered over the bar from close-range but probably from an offside position anyway. Oliyide then turned provider to play Federico through. He cut in and hit a fine shot across the keeper but Norris was able to push it wide.

But it was Egham who got their noses in front after 70 minutes as Andrew got lucky in a challenge from Sprague with the ball cannoning into his path but he then finished with clinical precision with a crisp strike that beat the debutant keeper.
Unlike in recent games, the Woods could find no real response to this, a sure sign of their tiredness, and the game petered out. It was the visitors who were more likely to score in the closing stages. Daggett made a particularly fine save to push round a fierce free-kick driven by Ryan Lake and substitute Marcus Moody miskicked in front of goal when set up by O’Toole for a late chance.