The Woods were unable to follow up Saturday’s impressive victory as they failed to hold onto an early lead against play-off hopefuls Hayes & Yeading in a Boxing Day clash in front of a surprisingly low crowd.

Once again Manager Simon Lane had to bring in a goalkeeper; the ninth of the season, for this tough derby match as Brendan Hazlett and Xavi Comas, who had made his debut a few days earlier, were both away for Christmas. In came youngster Matt Nolan on dual registration from Enfield Town. Brad Hewitt returned to the defence so David Taylor pushed back into midfield to replace Wilson Chingoka after he reported ill that morning.

There was plenty of action straight from the start with Harry Newman getting in an early cross which was cut out at the near post by Hayes’ on-loan keeper Kai McKenzie-Lyle while Nolan was soon called upon to keep out more of a direct effort from out wide by Toby Little. But the Woods then took a prompt lead when Lewis Ochoa slipped a fine ball down the left channel which put former Hayes winger Mahlondo Martin in between two defenders down the middle and he finished in fine style to make it 1-0 to Northwood.

It raised the confidence of the Northwood side and on 13 minutes another good ball released Newman again down the left and when his cross eluded two home defenders, it perhaps caught Martin by surprise at the far post as he wasn’t prepared for a shot at goal. Instead he played it across to Tayshan Hayden-Smith who set up Isaac Olorunfemi for a shot which took a deflection but was still comfortable saved by McKenzie-Lyle.

Hayes & Yeading were still looking dangerous as well, with Little causing problems on the left. He cut in past a couple of challenges to shoot and Nolan did well to keep it out. Romelle Alomenu failed to clear the loose ball and another quick strike was also blocked before it was finally cleared away. The home side then pulled themselves level after 20 minutes as a ball into the box led to a flurry of legs and when two Northwood defenders were unable to connect to clear Hayes’ top scorer Manny Duku was able to flick a shot into the roof of the net.

Suddenly United were on top and ex-Woods striker Ismael Ehui was next to go close as he found space for a powerful strike that was straight at Nolan but the young keeper still did well to keep it out. Little floated a shot that went only just over the top and then a through-ball saw Duku beat Nolan to it but the striker then fired well over. On 35 minutes the home side benefited from a couple of deflections that went their way and Laste Dombaxe had a clear strike at goal but Nolan was across to push it wide once again.

The Woods needed to stay level through to the half-time whistle and they nearly made it but on 44 minutes Ehui played a ball wide to Little who had again found space and he drove in a cross which Lewis Hobbs tried to cut out but only succeeded in diverting inside the near post to leave Nolan stranded and Hayes & Yeading in front.

There was a surprise at the start of the second half as the Woods made a double substitution, replacing both wing-backs Olorunfemi and Alomenu with Jack McDonnell and Paolo Montella, but within a few seconds it was a familiar story as man of the match Little got forward again and set up Duku for a shot that flew wide. Northwood were not threatening and Nolan had to make another block to deny Duku after a good through-ball from Ola Olajubu before the latter was booked for felling Newman in full flow.

It took until the 64th minute for the Woods to make a dangerous move and it was Martin who provided it as he left Dombaxe trailing as he raced into the box. He cut the ball back to the edge of the area but Taylor was arriving just too late and the ball was cleared. But it was only a brief respite. Little drove in a short corner and a flick header from Duku was again kept out by some good reflexes from Nolan to keep the Woods in with a chance.

That chance was finally snuffed out after 78 minutes when substitute Frank Keita latched onto a through-ball and was then caught by Hobbs just inside the box with the Referee pointing straight to the spot. Another sub, Duncan Culley, took responsibility for the penalty and tucked it away neatly to make it 3-1. It got worse for Northwood five minutes later as a poor clearance was returned quickly by Priestly Farquharson and when the bounce was misjudged by Hobbs, Duku was onto it in a flash to place a shot beyond Nolan and make sure of all three points.

Nolan showed his shot-stopping prowess again early in stoppage-time as he pushed wide a strike from Keita and then the Woods countered and grabbed a consolation when Martin was put through wide on the right by Hobbs and he cut in to finish well for his second of the game.

There was still a late opportunity for Duku to complete his hat-trick but he sliced his shot wide of the target and the game came to an end with a 4-2 scoreline.