BEDFONT: Dimitrios Kyriatzis, Ed Cook  , Mekhail McLaughlin (Brandon Kalu 63m), Michael Kinsella, Joe Jackson, Ezekiel Bademosi, Ricky Wellard, Veron Kokurinkov (Brian Testolin 77m), Andy Ali (Nathan Wood 64m), Darryl Sanders, Maxwell Oldham  |
|
Under the tutelage of former player and newly appointed manager Rob Ursell, Northwood’s rotten form continued after a 5-2 defeat against Bedfont Sports. After conceding three goals within 33 minutes, two strikes either side of the half from Eric Lopes looked to put the Woods back in contention. However, against the run of play, Bedfont scored two late goals to seal the tie.
Ursell’s first-ever managerial outing, saw a complete overhaul to Northwoods starting eleven with seven new players coming in. Conceding two in the opening ten minutes, the start did not go the way the new staff would have envisioned.
In the third minute, captain Charlie Hayford’s poor touch lead to the away side's first.
Not expecting a turnover in possession Northwood’s defence was caught sleeping, Eze Bademosi capitalised, sliding the ball past the on-rushing Rackley.
Then in the ninth minute, the visitors scored again. A good team move from Bedfont was clinically finished off by winger Max Oldham, whose strike hit the post and went in.
Although they were two goals down so quickly, the Woods stuck to their game plan and were retaining the ball confidently. The high percentage of possession eventually would pay dividends, when Romario Hart was upended by Bedfont’s goalkeeper Dimitrios Kyriatzis, resulting in a penalty being awarded.
Having to wait a few minutes to take the penalty whilst Hart was being treated, the unfazed Lopes calmly slotted the penalty into the bottom left corner.
The home side kept up the pressure, but it was Bedfont who had the final say of the half. Goalscorer Oldham glided down the left-wing and played in a low cross straight into the path of Daryl Saunders, who finished with ease from six yards out.
Ursell’s second 45 minutes of his managerial career got off to better start than the first, as five minutes after the restart, Northwood brought it back to a one-goal deficit. Lopes cut inside from the right flank using his quick feet to beat his marker and found enough space to expertly bend the ball into the top left corner.
The Woods seemed to gain more confidence from Lopes’ goal, and it was Bayley Brown who was working hard in midfield trying to create chances for his team-mates but to no avail. That was the tale of the game for Northwood, dominating the play but not being able to find the killer ball.
With Bedfont soaking up all the pressure, it was almost inevitable that they would score against the run of play. In the 80th minute substitute Nathan Wood punished the home side with an unstoppable looping strike from 25 yards.
Bedfont went down to ten men for the last five minutes, when Oldham received his second yellow card of the game. The red card had no real effect on the final minutes of the game, and it was the visitors who scored again before the final whistle, Brian Testolin coming off the bench to score against his former club.
On paper, it looked a poor result, but this actually was a promising start from Northwood under the new regime. |
