Northwood 0 Thatcham Town 1
Saturday 18th December 2021
| NORTHWOOD | |||
 |
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| 1 | Daniel Hosier | ||
| 2 | Matt Surmon | ||
| 3 | Sam Jenkins | ||
| 4 | Keagan Cole © | ||
| 5 | Tommy Boxer | ||
| 6 | James Gurteen | ||
| 7 | Ryan Young (65m) | ||
| 8 | Teddy Stacey | ||
| 9 | Sydney Ibie  |
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| 10 | Micah Jackson | ||
| 11 | Matteo Esposito | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Sam Cahill | ||
| 14 | Alex More (65m) | ||
| 15 | Yiannis Constantinou | ||
| 16 | Lewis Batten | ||
| 17 | Andy Lomas | ||
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Northwood’s poor run of home results continued as they were denied a deserved share of the spoils by conceding a late goal at home to a Thatcham Town outfit managed by former Woods boss Jamie Leacock.
Woods’ pre-match plans were disrupted after key midfielder Carl Stewart was recalled by parent club Beaconsfield Town on the 
morning of the game which meant Matteo Esposito was recalled to the starting line-up, the only change from the previous week’s win at Binfield.
In front of a bumper crowd, the contest started at a brisk pace and the visitors spurned a wonderful opportunity to take the lead as Alex Miller scuffed his close-range effort as he looked to convert Harvey Harry’s low cross. At the other end, Micah Jackson wasn’t far away with an audacious lob which narrowly cleared the woodwork.
The Kingfishers maintained their bright as they forced a couple of corners, but the well organised Northwood backline were dealing well with the threat and goalkeeper Dan Hosier remained untroubled. Woods began to find their attacking rhythm as the half wore on, Sydney Ibie seeing his shot on the turn from the edge of the box fly wide of the upright before Esposito might have done better as he created space in the box but seemed to hesitate with the goal at his mercy and his shot was blocked.
Hosier was finally called into action as he comfortably dealt with an effort from Cameron Rohart-Brown. But Woods were soon back on the offensive as a clever Teddy Stacey pass released Jackson whose cross shot just evaded Ryan Young at the far post. With half-time approaching, there were a couple of opportunities for both teams as Daniel Fosu went close for the visitors with a volleyed attempt from outside the box while James Gurteen saw his half-volley from a corner fly wide of the Thatcham goal.
Photos by JAMES BROWN & LEN KERSWILL
Woods were quickly out of the blocks upon the resumption, Ibie causing alarm in the Kingfishers’ defence as he chased a Jackson through-ball, before the ball was finally cleared. And Jackson was involved once more as he had two bites at the cherry in the Thatcham box as his initial shot was charged down before the follow up effort curled narrowly over the crossbar.
The visitors responded with Harry heading narrowly over from a corner before Hosier produced a flying save to keep out a rasping shot from Glenn Kusel-Gabriel. And as the play flowed from end to end, Jackson teed up Ibie for a long range shot which flew over the woodwork.
Northwood made a change on the hour with debutant Alex More replacing Esposito as the hosts continued to search for the elusive goal and they weren’t far away as Sam Jenkins made a strong run into the box before squaring the ball which just failed to reach the on-rushing Young. And Young had an opportunity moments later but his snapshot flew the wrong side of the upright.
Both sides were striving for the winning strike, Jackson firing in another shot from distance before the impressive Hosier produced another stunning save to divert Harry’s fiercely struck shot over the bar. But the deadlock was finally broken in the 85th minute as Thatcham skipper Joshua Edwards bundled the ball home from a corner to silence the home crowd.
Northwood desperately tried to retrieve the situation, having their appeals for a penalty ignored as Jenkins fell in the box. And with contest moving into added time, Ibie had a close-range shot blocked by a lunging Edwards before Gurteen saw his shot palmed away by Hopwood following a lofted free-kick into the box – the final action on a frustrating day for the Woods.
Report by ROBIN PIPER
