Hanwell Town 2 Northwood 1
Monday 30th August 2021
| NORTHWOOD | |||
 |
|||
| 1 | Montel Joseph © | ||
| 2 | Ryan Avery | ||
| 3 | Aaron Petch  (65m) |
||
| 4 | Tristan Noel | ||
| 5 | Arnold Linturn | ||
| 6 | Gradi Milenge | ||
| 7 | Shakeel Morris | ||
| 8 | Declan Nche | ||
| 9 | Ismael Ehui (65m) | ||
| 10 | Matteo Esposito | ||
| 11 | Ezekiel Williams | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Matt Surmon | ||
| 14 | Olu Akinode | ||
| 15 | Tom Unsworth (65m) | ||
| 16 | Sam Coles (65m) | ||
| 17 | Joakim Ehui | ||
|
|||
Northwood were unable to keep their half-time lead at much-vaunted Hanwell Town on Monday afternoon and ended the Bank Holiday weekend pointless after two defeats in three days.
Manager Ben Murray was forced into a couple of changes to the starting line-up due to injuries to Matt Ayres and birthday boy Leo Decabo, replaced by Ezekiel Williams and Tristan Noel. The home side, who were still looking for their first Isthmian League win of the season too after a Saturday defeat at Basingstoke Town, were able to 
welcome back main striker Ogo Obi having missed the opening three games of the season through suspension.
And it was Obi who had the first chance of the match on eight minutes as one-time Woods midfielder Jack Hutchinson threaded a neat ball through the Northwood defence but goalkeeper Montel Joseph was out quickly and blocked his effort on goal. Three minutes later Jack Beadle crossed into Obi and this time he fired over the bar.
It took a while for the Woods to settle but they gradually starting to get numbers forward and they were almost in front with their first foray on goal after 23 minutes as Declan Nche let fly from 20 yards and Hanwell goalkeeper Hugo Sobte flew across to his right to push the ball wide.
It was the start of a good spell for Northwood and there was a great chance for Ismael Ehui six minutes later as a good ball saw him speed past Callum Duffy and into the box with just Sobte to beat but unfortunately, he stumbled as he went to shoot and the ball was cleared.
But he didn’t have too long to redeem himself. A free-kick was awarded after 33 minutes and it was flighted in towards the penalty-spot. Sobte came for it but failed to hold and Ismael Ehui prised it away from the stricken ‘keeper before firing a left-footed shot past Terlochan Singh on the line who had tried and, thankfully for him, failed to keep it out with an outstretched hand.
Photos by JAMES BROWN
The goal clearly shocked Hanwell back into action as the first-half came to a close. Obi flicked another Beadle cross towards goal but Joseph kept it out and then it was Hutchinson’s turn to be slipped through but the result was the same as Joseph blocked again. Just before the half-time whistle, full-back Dan Carr got forward and tried his luck from distance but Joseph again held on at the near-post to ensure that the Woods remained level at the break.
Joseph’s best save was still to come though and that was after 55 minutes as cross from the right found Adam Laaref is acres of space. He hit his shot well but the Woods ‘keeper reacted superbly with a reflex save that again pushed the ball wide.
Hanwell persisted on the attack though and they were finally rewarded two minutes later when Hutchinson picked his way into the box and slotted home an equaliser. The home side then turned a potential defeat into a lead with a second goal in three minutes. A corner was swung over from the right and Duffy rose between Gradi Milenge and Nche to flick a header perfectly inside a post and out of reach of the diving Joseph.
Hanwell retained the ball well after this and the Woods were making no inroads despite making all three substitutions and relying on the odd counter-attack. Obi was still without his goal on his return and Joseph saved again from his free-kick on 81 minutes before he also blasted wide following a good ball from substitute Kai O’Brosnan.
The last five minutes of the game saw the Woods finally threatening again. A couple of dangerous crosses rained in and caused a few desperate defensive panics but the only actual chance fell to Shakeel Morris whose header bounced down and wide of the target.
Report by ALAN EVANS
