Northwood 1 Marlow 2
Tuesday 30th September 2025
| NORTHWOOD | |||
 |
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| 1 | Hafed Al-Droubi | ||
| 2 | Henry Atkinson (83m) | ||
| 3 | Mack Miskin | ||
| 4 | Manny Folarin© | ||
| 5 | Bryan Mankumbani | ||
| 6 | Jack Smith (67m) | ||
| 7 | Reece Price-Placid | ||
| 8 | Carl Stewart  |
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| 9 | Dylan Kearney (68m) | ||
| 10 | Ademide Baruwa | ||
| 11 | Dan Williams | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Nasir Sharifi | ||
| 14 | Freddie Ford (67m) | ||
| 15 | Harry McKenna | ||
| 16 | Jordan Ellis (83m) | ||
| 17 | Devonte Totesaut (68m) | ||
The Woods suffered a second successive home defeat in four days on Tuesday night, this time at the hands of Marlow in an open and entertaining game which kicked off ten minutes late due to traffic issues.
After the defensive woes at the weekend, captain Manny Folarin was back to lead the side and joint manager Jack Smith slotted in alongside him in a change of formation. Dylan Kearney returned to start up front while Henry Atkinson was also back in the starting line-up.
Marlow had made a slow start to their own campaign after relegation last season so both sides were looking for points to climb the table and the 
Blues forced a couple of early corners which were successfully defended by the Woods.
The first strike at goal came from Northwood though after eight minutes. Mack Miskin fed Dan Williams down the left and his cross was met by a left-footed strike from Kearney which was pushed wide by goalkeeper Ryan North. Four minutes later, Miskin again provided the through-ball which saw Williams get ahead of his marker and get in a left-footed shot but North was again equal to it, saving low down.
Marlow recorded their first effort on goal soon after with Shamar Moore cutting in from the right to get a shot in but Hafed Al-Droubi blocked at the near-post and the Woods countered quickly through Atkinson and Reece Price-Placid who shrugged past a foul, using the advantage played to get in a cross but the danger was cut out.
A minute later, the Woods could have been in front. Miskin, enjoying his wing-back role, played in Williams again and continued his run into the box for the square-ball but he failed to get the needed touch in front of goal that should have beaten North.
After that frantic start to the game, there was more of battle to the next fifteen minutes with Flavio Gyawu-Kyem causing a few issues with his pace on the left but it was still the Woods who next went close after 30 minutes as Carl Stewart combined with Price-Placid before knocking in a cross which picked out Kearney but his header lacked the direction to beat North who held on comfortably.
Kwesi Ntim went close for the Blues on 35 minutes with a fierce strike from distance which saw Al-Droubi push the ball over the bar with a strong right-hand but just a minute later a quick break from the Woods saw Williams find the overlapping Miskin and his cross picked out Stewart. His left-footed strike was blocked by a defender and Price-Placid was unable to beat Alfie Agar to the loose ball in the box, conceding a foul.
It was all-square at the break with all to play for but it was the visitors who were quickest out of the blocks with Ntim running onto a good ball from Naheer Omar Nawaf but firing just over the bar on 47 minutes. The opening goal followed eight minutes later when Nawaf chipped a quick ball forward for Moore to get first run on the defence and Al-Droubi a long way out of his goal. The Woods goalkeeper won the ball but only half-hit his clearance and Nawaf pounced to lob the ball neatly into the empty net from forty yards.
Al-Droubi had to push out a dangerous cross from Nawaf soon after but on 65 minutes Marlow doubled their lead when a handball claim against Alex Salmon was ignored and a quick ball saw Gyawu-Kyem break from the halfway line, skip past a challenge from Folarin and finish well from inside the box for a fine solo effort.
The Woods needed to get back into the game quickly and introduced fresh legs with Freddie Ford and Devonte Totesaut replacing Smith and Kearney on 68m and four minutes later it produced the result required as a neat ball in from Atkinson saw Williams chest it down to Ademide Baruwa who quickly returned the ball for Williams to swivel and fire home.
Williams could have had a second three minutes later when Price-Placid lifted a cross in from the right that found the striker in front of goal but he was stretching for a header which lacked the power to beat North in goal.
Sadly for the Woods, the final fifteen minutes of play, broken up by substitutions, niggly fouls and time-wasting tactics produced little of significance in front of goal and Marlow held on comfortably to all three valuable points.
Enfield are the visitors to the Skyline on Saturday with the Woods still looking for a first home league victory.
REPORT by Alan Evans
