Northwood 5 Staines Town 0
Saturday 11th September 2021
| NORTHWOOD | |||
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| 1 | Montel Joseph © | ||
| 2 | Adam Cash | ||
| 3 | Juan Pablo Velasco | ||
| 4 | Leo Decabo | ||
| 5 | Arnold Linturn | ||
| 6 | Gradi Milenge  |
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| 7 | Shakeel Morris (80m) | ||
| 8 | Declan Nche | ||
| 9 | Joakim Ehui (73m) | ||
| 10 | Matt Ayres | ||
| 11 | Matteo Esposito (28m) | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Ezekiel Williams (80m) | ||
| 14 | Matt Surmon (28m) | ||
| 15 | Sam Coles | ||
| 16 | Mo Sahnoun (73m) | ||
| 17 | Aaron Petch | ||
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Northwood put their FA Cup woes behind them as they produced a five-star performance with a convincing win over struggling Staines Town despite playing the majority of the game with ten men after the 26th minute sending off of Gradi Milenge.
Woods manager Ben Murray made a number of changes to his starting Milenge line-up with Joakim Ehui standing in for injured brother Ismael up top while there was also a return for Matteo Esposito in place of Ezekiel Williams.
The defence also had a new look with Hayes and Yeading loanee Adam Cash coming in for Ryan Avery at right back while there was also a debut for left-back Juan Pablo Gonzalez-Velasco who had spent pre-season with Northwood but had been turning out for Hendon.
Staines made the better start by forcing a couple of early corners and Rhys Paul should have given the visitors the lead when through on goal, but he dragged his shot wide of the far post.
But it was Northwood who gained the upper hand as they scored two goals in four minutes. Cash was the instigator for Woods as he combined with Matt Ayres who fed Shakeel Morris and after his shot hit the upright, Ehui was on hand to convert the loose ball to open the scoring on 21 minutes.
And Woods doubled their lead after a slick move with Esposito freeing Cash who played a neat one-two with Ehui before calming slotting the ball beyond former Northwood keeper Joe Ringer.
However, Woods mood suddenly changed on 26 minutes as they were reduced to ten men after last man Milenge found himself the wrong side of Noah Amissah and after both players tussled and fell to the ground, the referee produced a red card for the Northwood man.
Woods had to reorganise with the unfortunate Esposito making way for defender Matt Surmon and a reinvigorated Staines twice went close with a couple of headers from Paul, but the home defence stood firm.
Photos by JAMES BROWN & LEN KERSWILL
But having stood the initial test, Woods increased their advantage before the halftime break with a third goal on 42 minutes, the irrepressible Nche setting up Morris on the edge of the box and his instinctive, low shot proved too strong for Ringer.
Ten-man Northwood continued to take the game to the Swans after the break with Cash shooting narrowly over and Ayres seeing his shot tipped over the crossbar by Ringer. At the other end, Montel Joseph had to be at his best as the Woods custodian kept out a snapshot from substitute Athan Smith-Joseph.
Woods utilised their full quota of substitutes with Ehui and Morris being replaced by debutant Mo Shanoun and Ezekiel Williams. But Northwood were given a reminder of the Staines threat as Joseph pulled off a couple of fine saves to deny Sheridan Campbell and Amissah.
However, Sahnoun was beginning to make an impression for Woods, pulling his shot wide after a good move involving Leo Decabo and Cash before another strong run from the substitute ended with a shot flying wide of the target.
However, with Staines having accepted their fate and the contest into the third minute of stoppage time, Sahnoun was tripped in the box with Leo Decabo making no mistake from the spot for his first Northwood goal.
And there was still time for Sahnoun to open his account as he made it 5-0 in the fifth minute of added time to cap a fantastic afternoon for Northwood, who clinched their first league win of the season in style!
Report by ROBIN PIPER
