Northwood 2 Milton Keynes Irish 3

Saturday 14th February 2026

NORTHWOOD




1	Kai Mussilhy
2	Ademide Baruwa
3	Mack Miskin
4	Dan Vincent (67m)
5	Ethan Cann
6	Bryan Mankumbani
7	Ezra Ndukuba (84m)
8	Carl Stewart ©
9	Dan Williams (64m)
10	Freddie Ford
11	Osa Otote (86m)
Substitutes
12	Harry McKenna
14	Frankie Pass (84m)
15	Stephane Bombelenga (64m)
16	Harry McCorkell (67m)
17	Jamie Kennedy (86m)
	MK Irish: Tom Ladyman, Clinton Zawe, Callum Hirst, Oliver Coleman (Nathan Smith 59m), Oliver Kalek (Nat Beecher 40m), Ryan Smith, Owen Brooks (James Meadows 59m), George Shrieves (Kelvin Osei-Addo 87m), Stephen Brooks (Kwai Marsh-Brown 59m), Freddy Joyce, Mason Spence

A short gap in the incessant wet weather finally allowed the Woods to return to the Skyline Roofing Stadium for their first home game since before Christmas as the side looked to end a run of three successive league defeats.

Mid-table Milton Keynes Irish were making their first-ever visit to Northwood, who were playing their first game under the current interim management of Dennis Quigley and Mark Chandler. With both central defenders, Manny Folarin and Gabe Cuthbert, ruled out with suspension and another, Louis Udeh, missing with injury, former Charlton Athletic

youngster Ethan Cann came in on dual-registration from Enfield Town to partner Bryan Mankumbani in an unfamiliar partnership. With goalkeeper Hafed Al-Droubi having departed, in came another teenager, Kai Mussilhy for his debut between the sticks having played a few games for Chesham United this season. That wasn’t the end of the new faces either as former Uxbridge attacker Ezra Ndukuba made his Woods debut having joined on dual-registration from Egham Town. On the bench for a first appearance of the season, after a long recuperation from a double-hernia operation, it was good to see Harry McCorkell as well as former Under 18s striker Frankie Pass who has been having a good season for North Greenford United at Step 5.

And the Woods made an excellent start to the game with Carl Stewart combining with Dan Williams to set up Osa Otote for a strike on five minutes that goalkeeper Tom Ladyman kept out at his near-post.

The visitors tried to hit back with Mussilhy getting some early action to scramble a long ball behind for a corner and then comfortable taking a deflected effort from George Shrieves but Williams also went close with a shot that was wide of the far post and then it was Northwood who grabbed the lead after 19 minutes. Otote was the instigator with a chip forward from just outside the box which took a slight deflection that helped it into the path of Dan Williams who did well to lift his shot past Ladyman and into the roof of the net for his thirteenth of the season.

g out Mack Miskin just outside the area and he controlled before hitting a right-foot shot which was just over the bar. The second was chipped into the box to find Dan Williams who did well to turn and shoot but Kamara managed to get down to and keep it out.

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PHOTOS by James Brown

The Woods defence was holding together well while MK looked vulnerable. On 29 minutes, Williams turned provider with a good ball in from the right which was met by a left-foot volley from Ndukuba but his effort came back off the post and was cleared.

Six minutes later, the dangerous Otote did the hard work as he drifted past a couple of defensive efforts across the edge of the box and got a clear sight of goal but steered his shot wide of the far post.

It was only a narrow lead at the break and the Irish were quickly on the front-foot after the restart as Owen Brooks beat Mack Miskin on the right to knock in a good chip which Mussilhy could only just get two hands to. The ball spilled in the six-yard box but thankfully the Woods keeper was alert to then slap away Cann’s attempt at a clearance before the ball was eventually cleared.

On 52 minutes, Northwood doubled the lead though and it was a solo effort from Ndukuba as he collected a ball just outside the box and jinked right to find enough space to arrow a perfect strike through the legs of a defender and inside the far post with Ladyman unable to get across to it.

The Woods were good value for their two-goal lead but the visitors were showing signs of recovery when Shrieves cut in from the left to test Mussilhy with a low strike that he saved comfortably but Williams then limped off to be replaced by Stephane Bombelenga, himself back from injury, on 64 minutes. Three minutes later, Dan Vincent was replaced by McCorkell and these substitutions were just after MK had freshened up their own side with three replacements themselves.

The Woods were coping well enough though, even when Ryan Smith tried his luck with a powerful strike from distance after 75 minutes which needed Mussilhy to dive to his left and push it round the post. However, just a minute later, the Irish were back in the game as a cross from the right from Clinton Zawe saw Cann wrong-footed as he attempted to clear and Shrieves was able to neatly touch the ball past Mussilhy.

Just three minutes later the Woods defence imploded as Cann played a ball back to Mussilhy and the keeper was unable to get any real distance on his clearance. Smith slipped the ball into an unmarked Shrieves inside the box and he showed great composure to move across Cann before firing home to level the scores.

On 80 minutes, Mussilhy kept out a speculative effort from Mason Spence but just a minute later the visitors had turned the game on its head. Shrieves swapped passes with Spence to race to the edge of the box. He tried to pick out his fellow attacker at the far post but when Mankumbani managed to block, Shrieves was fastest off the mark to the loose ball and raced across Cann to slot in a remarkable hat-trick inside 5 minutes and 9 seconds.

The shell-shocked Woods made two more changes in an attempt to recover something with Pass and Jamie Kennedy replacing Ndukuba and Otote. Both looked lively and knocked in some testing crosses but MK looked unlikely to let their lead slip. The only real chance came on 93 minutes as Pass unveiled his long-throw into the box and both Ademide Baruwa and Bombelenga were close to getting a touch but in fact a defender’s outstretched leg knocked in goalwards and Ladyman was able to smother it just in time.

It was a hammer blow for the Woods who had looked well on top for more than an hour but the defeat leaves them still deep in relegation trouble.

REPORT by Alan Evans



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