Hanworth Villa 2 Northwood 1

Wednesday 12th April 2023

NORTHWOOD




1	Andrew McCorkell
2	James Gurteen
3	Andy Lomas
4	Riccardo Alexander-Greenaway
5	Luke Tingey ©
6	Keagan Cole (72m)
7	Shane Cojocarel
8	Teddy Stacey
9	Gareth Chendlik (72m)
10	Dan Williams
11	Sandro Costa (86m)
Substitutes
12	Carl Stewart (72m)
14	Josh Helmore (86m)
15	Romario Jonas
16	Harry Gallagher
17	Osaretin Otote (72m)
	Hanworth: Gary Ross, Kyron Richards , Aston Nunn, Guy Ansah-Palmer, George Wells , Tom Bender (Baboucarr Jarra 61m), Gagendeep Samra, Theo Crawford, Kyen Nicholas (Jordan Ellis 77m), Sam , Merson, Meshach Williams (Ben Geraghty 67m)

Having been postponed on Easter Monday, the Woods' midweek trip to Hanworth Villa a couple of nights later still leaves them short of the points required to secure a place in the end of season play-offs as closest rivals Villa recorded their third win over Northwood this season.

Micah Jackson was again unavailable but there was a surprise recall for Sandro Costa who had been missing for nearly two months. Keagan Cole replaced Romario Jonas at the back and Dan Williams returned in preference to Josh Helmore up front.

Just for a change it was raining by kick-off time and the Woods made a poor start to the game as the Villains took a 10th minute lead. Sam Merson’s deep cross was headed back across goal and Kyen Nicholas pounced to smash the ball into the roof of the net from close-range.
The home side continued to dominate the early stages and went close when Andrew McCorkell kept our a Merson free-kick with his legs and then saved more comfortably from a longer-range effort from the ex-St Albans attacker.

The Woods were struggling to make any impact. Gareth Chendlik and Andy Lomas both failed to get crosses into the danger area and then Costa won a free-kick but it was easily cleared.

Nicholas shot just wide of the post after a clever ball from Merson who was running the show at this stage and after 36 minutes the home side went further ahead. A long throw was cleared away but Tom Bender hooked the ball back towards goal and it beat everyone for a bit of a fluke goal.

Just a couple of minutes before half-time, the Woods should have pulled a goal back. Shane Cojocarel was put through on goal by Teddy Stacey and he slipped it wide to Chendlik whose strike on an open goal was somehow kept out by goalkeeper Gary Ross.

PHOTOS by James Brown

Villa were first out of the blocks after the interval with former Woods striker Meshach Williams seeing his effort cleared away by Gurteen but after that Northwood did start to make some inroads. Dan Williams tried his luck from distance but his shot was always going wide and then Chendlik had an effort deflected just wide of the post.

After 64 minutes, the Woods were back in the game as Cole floated over a corner and Luke Tingey’s downward header beat Ross through his legs after the ‘keeper was probably distracted by Chendlik’s dummy.

It was Hanworth’s turn to defend solidly as Williams and Alexander-Greenaway have shots blocked before a double substitution saw Carl Stewart and Osaretin Otote replace Cole and Chendlik. After 75 minutes, Stacey’s run was ended when he was brought down just outside the box but Cojocarel’s free-kick was too high.

A ball from Lomas to Otote gave the Woods wide man the chance to cut in and shoot but it was partially blocked and the ball trickled through comfortably for Ross to claim. Four additional minutes turned into almost double that as Villa ran down the time with some blatant timewasting but the Woods were unable to get possession of the ball at any time and the home side held on for all three valuable points while Northwood continue to stagger towards the end of the season without the points necessary to secure a play-off place.

REPORT by Alan Evans