Waltham Abbey 5 Northwood 1.jpg)
Saturday 24th October 2020
| NORTHWOOD | |||
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| 1 | Hafed Al-Droubi | ||
| 2 | Ryan Phillips | ||
| 3 | Jaden Sharman | ||
| 4 | Daryl Bryan-Samuels | ||
| 5 | Dave Thomas © | ||
| 6 | Aaron Morgan  |
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| 7 | Arash Abdullahi (54m) |
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| 8 | Marcelo Graca | ||
| 9 | Devonte Totesaut (66m) | ||
| 10 | Claudio Ribeiro (57m) | ||
| 11 | Yiannis Constantinou | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Ryan Esprit | ||
| 14 | Luke Jones (66m) | ||
| 15 | George Isaac (54m) | ||
| 16 | Danny Brown (57m) | ||
| 17 | - | ||
Waltham Abbey: |
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The positivity generated by Northwood’s midweek draw at Hanwell Town was quickly extinguished as they conceded four goals in 23 first half minutes in a crushing defeat at the hands of the league leaders at Capershotts.
Woods were forced into a couple of changes as they lost the services of Reece Yorke and with injury depriving manager Rob Ursell of his other central defensive options, Daryl Bryan-Samuels was deployed as an emergency defender once again. There was also a change in midfield with Arash Abdollahi, who made a handful of appearances at the start of the Simon Lane era, starting on the right flank with Yiannis Constantinou moving into the middle of the park in the absence of Billy Adcock. There was also a new face on the opposite flank, with Claudio Ribeiro making his Northwood debut.
Things couldn’t have started better for Woods who saw an effort from Ribeiro blocked before Phillips and Abdollahi tried their luck from distance. And the visitors were rewarded for their positive start by taking a 10th minute lead through Aaron Morgan as he crashed the ball into the roof of the net following Devonte Totesaut’s pull back for his first goal in Northwood colours.
However, the joy was short-lived as Waltham Abbey drew level a minute later as Woods conceded possession just outside their box allowing Prince William Domafriyie to square the ball to Jason Hallett for a simple tap-in. And the Abbotts thought they had a second goal on the board moments later more as Billy Holland rolled the ball into the net only to be denied by an offside flag.
Woods were struggling to adapt their game to the blustery conditions and their propensity to over-elaborate with the ball at the back nearly cost them again as they lost possession in a dangerous position but Dave Thomas was able to get back to make the block on Domafriyie.
However, after Hallett had gone close with a header from a free-kick to the far post, Woods shot themselves in the foot once more as the ball was given away in a dangerous position with Nathan Koranteng crossing for the unmarked Hallett to apply the finish to put the hosts in front on 21 minutes.
And the misery continued for Woods four minutes later as Domafriyie outstripped Thomas down the Northwood left before crossing for Billy Holland for the simplest of finishes to give the visitors a mountain to climb with only 25 minutes on the clock.
Northwood rallied as they made a couple of forays into Waltham Abbey territory, Morgan having a shot charged down after good work from Abdollahi before Phillips wasn’t far away with a shot from outside the box. But any hopes Woods might have had of getting back in the game were effectively ended as a quick break from deep saw the pacy Domafriyie send over a pinpoint cross for Hallett to head home to complete his hat-trick on 34 minutes.
With Woods seemingly only playing for pride now, they proceeded to create a number of openings, Totesaut being denied by goalkeeper Simon Jorgensen, the overlapping Jaden Sharman going close after a lay-off from Morgan while Ribeiro dragged a shot wide form a good position.
Northwood continued to push with the Abbotts content to sit back before the break, Totesaut having a shot deflected behind before the same player and Thomas had volleyed attempts blocked following a Phillips cross into the danger area. And another Northwood foray ended with Totesaut and Constantinou having shots blocked as the visitors finished the half on a positive note.
With the strengthening wind at their backs, Woods would have been hoping to salvage something from their disappointing afternoon thus far. But Northwood continued to create further problems for themselves with more defensive indecision almost letting in Hallett who stabbed the ball wide.
The hosts continued to make light of the conditions and they threatened again as Ryan Dear headed narrowly wide from a free-kick into the Northwood box. Meanwhile, Woods were struggling to capitalise on the wind advantage, although Ribeiro might have done better when shooting wide as he ran into the box while Morgan had another shot blocked after good work from Sharman.
Northwood made a double substitution on 55 minutes, with Danny Brown and George Isaac replacing Abdollahi and Ribeiro. But the visitors continued to make little headway and normal business was resumed as the host scored a fifth goal on 66 minutes as Woods failed to deal with a long ball from the back allowing Nathan Koranteng to run through and sweep the ball beyond keeper Hafed Al-Droubi.
Al-Droubi prevented further pain for Northwood as he produced a double save to deny Domafriyie while Kyle Fraser-Allan headed narrowly wide. While at the other end, Northwood finally tried to use the wind to their advantage as Isaac almost scored with a long range chip which narrowly cleared the crossbar before Constantinou was thwarted by Jorgensen after being put through by Morgan.
And with the contest moving into stoppage time, Jorgensen prevented Woods from gaining some consolation with another save to deny Constantinou on a dispiriting afternoon which had promised so much more for Ursell’s men.
REPORT by Robin Piper
PHOTOS by James Brown
