Four warm-up games now in the bag: review to date

The Woods have now completed four official pre-season friendlies over the past couple of weeks and the squad is starting to take shape.

There have certainly been plenty of goals at both ends, but it started with a fairly dull 1-1 draw against Combined Counties League side Egham Town, nowadays managed by former Northwood boss Tony Choules who is attempting to rebuild the Surrey side to challenge for promotion back to Step 4.

The game was played in baking midday heat on the 3G pitch at Brunel University and proved very competitive with a surprising number of robust challenges which certainly played a part in the lack of any free-flowing football. Egham looked to possess plenty of pace and power up front but they were unable to find a way past the Woods young triallist goalkeeper and it was Northwood who took the lead shortly before half-time when Radu Stefanoaica headed home a cross from the left. But the visitors stuck to their task in the second-half and managed to level things up while the Woods were unable to find a second goal.

Next up was a midweek trip to Southern League Premier neighbours Hayes & Yeading, playing on their 3G surface. It was a pretty strong side that our hosts fielded and they put plenty of pressure on the Woods defence, winning and converting an early penalty. Northwood hit back just a few minutes later with a neat finish by a triallist striker and, as the rain came down and thunder sounded in the near vicinity, they competed well but then their top striker Dylan Kearney ran riot completing a hat-trick before half time to make the score 4-1. Northwood rallied well after the break, reducing the arrears early on through Diogo Da Silva and then Lucas Toti brought the Woods further back in the game making it 4-3 just ten minutes after the restart. The next thirty minutes produced no goals and it was only with four minutes left on the clock that Hayes & Yeading managed to make the game safe with a final scoreline of 5-3.

Last weekend, there was a longer trip to play fellow Isthmian League Step 4 club Whyteleafe who kindly hosted us in leafy but definitely damp Surrey. The rain made their 3G surface slick and the first half was full of goals starting with the Woods taking the lead when George Isaac latched onto a fine ball and sidestepped a couple of defenders before firing home. Once again, Northwood's defensive frailties were shown up though as Whyteleafe levelled from a free-kick and then added two more inside six minutes to suddenly lead 3-1 after only 25 minutes. Jaden Sharman was then tripped in the box for a Northwood penalty but Guilherme Monti saw his spot-kick saved by the 'keeper Sheikh Ceesay before Lucas Toti curled in a shot to make it 3-2 soon after. Another penalty was awarded to the Woods on 35 minutes and this time Radu Stefanoaica managed to level the scores from twelve yards. The parity only lasted two minutes though as this time Sharman dived in at the other end and conceded a penalty which former Barnet striker Ryan Gondoh tucked away for his second of the game.

Amazingly that was the end of the scoring as the rain stopped for the second-half and both defences managed to look a bit more secure of a half-time talking to. The only downside was an injury to the home side's attacker Andrew Sesay who fell awkwardly when making a move down the left wing and dislocated his shoulder; quite painful.

So, by Tuesday night's game against Spartan South Midlands League side Broadfields United, the Woods were still looking for their first taste of winning form. This took place at the neutral venue of Rectory Park, headquarters of the Middlesex FA and the side got off to a flying start when George Isaac raced forward, exchanged passes with Aaron Gordon and then arrowed a shot into the far corner. The one-time Hayes & Yeading youth who has represented Great Britain in mini-football, combined with another member of that GB team when Charlie Kuehn was played in by a quickly taken free-kick and his cross was flicked home by Isaac for a second goal on 19 minutes. And he made it a hat-trick when racing onto a through-ball from Ryan Esprit to score unchallenged. It was 4-0 before the break when Isaac's attempted pass actually deflected off a Broadfields defender and looped over the goalkeeper for an unfortunate own-goal.

A triallist forward managed to knock in a fifth goal for the Woods on 57 minutes but a clean-sheet was one of the main objectives of this game by now and the side managed that while also bagging a sixth goal just seconds before the end as Guilherme Monti raced through and took the ball past the 'keeper before slotting home.

Next up is an away game at Harefield United on Saturday and it is hoped that our neighbours will be in a position to be able to allow supporters to watch following the latest guidance from the Government and the FA so please watch social media for up-to-date advice on this.