STADIUM SPONSORS
HOME SHIRTS SPONSORS
AWAY SHIRTS SPONSORS
CLUBHOUSE & MEDIA STAND SPONSORS
WEBSITE SPONSORS
PREMIUM TIER SPONSORS

 

 

Rayners Lane 0  Northwood 1

Saturday 27th December 2025

 

NORTHWOOD
     
     
   
1 Hafed Al-Droubi
2 Ademide Baruwa
3 Mack Miskin
4 Manny Folarin ©
5 Gabe Cuthbert
6 Carl Stewart
7 Stephane Bombelenga (73m)
8 Freddie Ford
9 Dan Williams (90m)
10 Jon-Jo Bates (68m)
11 Hicham Bouchareb (62m)
Substitutes
12 Jamie Kennedy (73m)
14 Chama Torsiello (90m)
15 Bryan Mankumbani
16 Ronnie Mfinda (68m)
17 Osa Otote (62m)
 

Rayners Lane: Trent Carter-Rogers, Adeyemi Adewale, Tariq Straker, Junior Luke (Youel Emmanuel 82m), Jeremy Stewart , Kershaney Samuels (Ilyas Khader 88m), Deshane Dalling, Omarr Lawson, Mario Quiassaca (Tarik Ibrahim 46m), Bobby Bircham (Troy Silvera 46m), Kleyton Biazze Junior (Martin Youngah 81m)

Northwood picked up a much-needed three point maximum from this local derby holiday fixture to climb out of the bottom four just before the turn of the New Year.

There were two changes to the starting line-up that had held title-challengers Hertford Town to a draw a week earlier with Ademide Baruwa back from a hamstring issue to replace Harry McKenna at right-back while Mack Miskin was back from his two-month stint at Isthmian League Hayes & Yeading and immediately restored at left-back.

The home side were playing their fourth game following the return of manager Josh Bostock to the club, but only their second under his sole management and were hoping to follow up their excellent 2-2 draw at Hitchin Town the previous Saturday. Changes to the side have not been wholesale as yet and only veteran defender Junior Luke came in for a Lane debut in this game.

The Woods started the first-half well and after nine minutes, Stephane Bombelenga did well on the right to get past his marker and knock in a good cross which saw home goalkeeper Trent Carter-Rogers claim at the near-post with Jon-Jo Bates threatening to get a headed touch to.

Three minutes later Northwood got their noses in front. Freddie Ford won a tackle in the centre of the park and also got a fortunate ricochet that saw him play a quick ball forward to send Bates through the centre. His turn of pace took him beyond the chasing defenders and he didn’t need Dan Williams unmarked and free to his right as he steered a left-foot shot past the keeper.

It was an ideal start for the visitors and they continued to press, hoping to increase the advantage. Carl Stewart saw a couple of effort from just outside the box blocked before chipping another ball forward which had Williams stretching but he just couldn’t get a touch.

Then Hicham Bouchareb did well to knock in a dangerous cross from the left which former Wood Jeremy Stewart failed to cut out and Bombelenga was about to pounce at the far post when Carter-Rogers managed to grab the ball.

Rayners Lane began to get into the match from about 25 minutes with Kleyton De Biazze Junior starting to make an impact but the Woods defence looked solid enough until a corner on the half-hour saw Stewart meet it with a glancing header that flew across the face of the goal.

After 37 minutes Carter-Rogers swiped an inswinging corner off the head of Gabe Cuthbert but it was from another home corner that Lane had a chance to level before the break as De Biazze Junior got a shot in that bounced down and wide of the target.

PHOTOS by James Brown

It meant that Northwood only had a one-goal lead to defend against an occasionally strong wind in the second-half. The Lane made a double-substitution at the break and after they had dealt well with a dangerous Manny Folarin flick-on from a Baruwa long-throw, they were awarded a free-kick close to the edge of the box after 50 minutes. There seemed a generous amount of space at the near-post for De Biazze Junior’s right-footed up and down strike but it swung wide of the post.

Two minutes later, the Woods went close to doubling their advantage as a good ball from midfield put Williams into the box but his early strike was kept out by the ‘keeper who also recovered quickly to get to the ball as it ran loose.

By now, Northwood were defending deep, restricting Rayners Lane to long-range efforts and they did go close after 59 minutes when Luke was given too much space to aim a shot that arrowed towards the top corner of the goal but fortunately was just too high with Hafed Al-Droubi just a spectator. Soon after, an attempted clearance from Cuthbert inadvertently gifted a free header to a home attacker but he steered it straight at a grateful Al-Droubi.  

The Woods made a couple of substitutions themselves with Osa Otote replacing Bouchareb and then Ronny Mfinda, playing against his former club, coming on for goalscorer Bates. Almost immediately, Williams was put through on goal again but this time his first-time shot was wild and well wide.

Tariq Straker, back at Rayners Lane after a spell with Hendon, got forward well on 73 minutes but drove his shot across goal and wide as the Lane’s best efforts continued to be repelled by the Woods. And Northwood continued to defend stoutly with only a couple of low shots from distance testing Al-Droubi who looked comfortable on each occasion and time was running out for the home side.

There was three minutes of stoppage-time played when a rare Woods attack saw Ford find space for a shot from the edge of the box but it lacked the power to really test Carter-Rogers. It did ease the pressure though and Northwood held on comfortably in the remaining time to secure the victory and their first away clean-sheet of the season.

The Woods now go into the New Year with a home game against Beaconsfield Town who secured an excellent 4-1 victory over Marlow to move back into the top half of the table and will clearly provide challenging opposition.

REPORT by Alan Evans

CLUB TIER SPONSORS
   
BOARD SPONSORS
   

© Northwood F C - 2005-2026

Website designed, created and managed by Ken Green





         
≡MENU