Northwood 1 South Park 5
Saturday 13th November 2021
| NORTHWOOD | |||
 |
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| 1 | Daniel Purdue | ||
| 2 | Adam Cash © | ||
| 3 | Pablo Velasco | ||
| 4 | Matt Surmon | ||
| 5 | Ryan Avery  |
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| 6 | James Gurteen (41m) | ||
| 7 | Mark Simuchimba | ||
| 8 | Matteo Esposito | ||
| 9 | Ismael Ehui |
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| 10 | Tecane Shrowder |
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| 11 | Joakim Ehui (70m) | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Abioseh Davies (70m) | ||
| 14 | Lewis Batten | ||
| 15 | Aaron Petch | ||
| 16 | Gradi Milenge (41m) | ||
| 17 | - | ||
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Northwood faced an improving South Park in their first league game since the departure of manager Ben Murray, but it was a familiar story as they slumped to another heavy defeat. Still under the interim management of coaches George Lavender and Richard Elderfield, Woods featured debutant attacker Mark Simuchimba in their starting line-up, while there were returns to the defence for Adam Cash, James Gurteen and Pablo Velasco.
Woods settled well and they had the first chance of the afternoon as Matteo Esposito’s freekick into the box found Gurteen, but he was unable to get over his header which cleared the South Park crossbar.
But the visitors began to show why they have been climbing the table of late
, producing a series of incisive moves with good link-up play between forwards Ibrahim Jalloh and Adam Aziz with the latter being foiled by the legs of Northwood goalkeeper Daniel Purdue when clear on goal.
However, the Sparks weren’t to be denied as they took an 11th minute after the Northwood defence failed to deal with visiting keeper Mo Otuyo’s kick down the middle allowing Jalloh to knock the ball beyond Purdue who was caught in no-man’s land.
South Park kept their foot on the gas by forcing a series of corners and went close to extending the lead, Jalloh having a couple of shots charged down while Purdue was on hand to save from both Jalloh and Aziz.
Northwood had a let off as Purdue’s miscued throw went straight to Aziz but the attempted curling shot was gratefully gathered by the home stopper. But the hosts were not so fortunate on the 30-minute mark as more poor defending allowed Aziz to tee-up Charlie Pitcher who made no mistake for the Spark’s second goal of the afternoon.
Shellshocked Woods were struggling to put any meaningful moves together with a long range effort from Joakim Ehui which was well wide of the target, the only moment of note before South Park regained their attacking momentum with James Dickson and Pitcher going close.
Northwood were forced into a change on 40 minutes as Gradi Milenge replaced Gurteen in central defence after the latter hobbled off with an ankle injury after Purdue landed on him during a goalmouth scramble. Woods needed the sanctuary of the dressing room to regroup but unfortunately their half-time cuppas would have had an even more bitter taste as they conceded in added time when Aziz capped a fine first-half with his side’s third goal of the afternoon.
Photos by JAMES BROWN
The Sparks were immediately on the attack upon the resumption with Purdue keeping out Pitcher’s effort. And having survived falling further behind, Woods made a rare foray into the visitor’s half with Tecane Shrowder’s ball finding Ismael Ehui in the box but his shot on the turn was blocked by a blue shirt.
And Northwood gave themselves a glimmer of hope as they reduced the arrears on 57 minutes, Cash playing a neat one-two with Esposito before feeding Joakim Ehui who shot beyond Otuyo for his second league goal of the season.
Woods made a second substitution as goal scorer Ehui made way for debutant Abioseh Davies with 20 minutes left to play. But it was hard for the substitute to make an impact as South Park threatened again with Purdue producing a smart save to keep out Leon Lalor-Dell’s rising shot.
But Purdue was unable to prevent the Sparks from increasing the lead on 73 minutes as Matthew Faithorn got the final touch after Northwood failed to clear a corner.
Woods were looking increasingly disheartened as the visitors threatened more goals with Kevin Rivera spurning a good opportunity. However, Woods a great chance to add a second goal as Ismael Ehui latched onto Velasco’s whipped in cross but the header was at a comfortable height for Otuyo who tipped the effort over the crossbar.
And with the contest moving into stoppage time, South Park completed the rout with a fifth goal, the nature of which summed up Northwood’s afternoon - Purdue playing the ball out to Cash who was dispossessed out on the touchline by Jalloh who returned the ball over the stranded keeper and into an empty net to complete his brace and cap another forgettable afternoon for Woods.
Report by ROBIN PIPER
