Northwood 2  Stotfold 0

Saturday 13th December 2025

 

NORTHWOOD
1	Hafed Al-Droubi
2	Ademide Baruwa
3	Bryan Mankumbani
4	Manny Folarin ©
5	Gabe Cuthbert
6	Dan Vincent
7	Stephane Bombelenga (78m)
8	Carl Stewart
9	Dan Williams
10	Jon-Jo Bates
11	Freddie Ford (86m)
Substitutes
12	Hicham Bouchareb
14	Harry McKenna
15	Chama Torsiello
16	Jamie Kennedy (86m)
17	Osa Otote (78m)
	Stotfold: Liam Gooch, Romero Smart-Tull (Lewis Thomas 54m), James Peters (Jake Bunyan 77m), Daniel Sears, Hamid Seisay (Alexander Coppin 83m), Daniel Kemp, Sebastian Simpson. Henry Snee, Richesse Mvioki   (Ashley Kersey 71m),  Luca Cardines (Enock Ekongo 65m), Jack Brown

Northwood bounced back to form to notch their second home win in three games, most importantly keeping their first clean sheet in the League this season, against an in-form Stotfold side who were looking for a win to take them to the edges of the play-off places.

The Woods gave a starting debut to recent signing Stephane Bombelenga and were pleased to welcome back Hafed Al-Droubi in goal as well as young defender Gabe Cuthbert to bolster their central def ence with Bryan Mankumbani moving across to play left-back. The Eagles arrived on the
back of a run which had seen them lose only to leaders Leighton Town in their last nine games with seven of them resulting in wins including games against promotion contenders Hertford Town and Biggleswade Town. They made just one change to their starting line-up with Seb Simpson preferred to Alex Coppin.

And the visitors certainly started on the front foot, looking full of confidence, knocking the ball around comfortably and forcing a couple of corners while also looking dangerous from some long-throws which had the Woods having to defend well.

The Woods first attack came after nine minutes when a Carl Stewart cross was only half-cleared by the Stotfold defence and the tenacity of Jon-Jo Bates in the box saw him fire a ball across the six-yard box but just out of the reach of and unmarked Dan Williams.

Stotfold hit back, forcing the first save of the game from Al-Droubi on 17 minutes and a minute later Richesse Mvioki beat the Woods goalkeeper to a cross and his header had to be cleared away by a covering Manny Folarin.

Northwood had hardly struck a blow in the final third until they were suddenly in front after 29 minutes when Ademide Baruwa sent in a long throw which was neatly headed on by Folarin and Bombelenga pounced in the middle to swivel and steer the ball past Liam Gooch in goal. Soon after, another corner from the visitors was swung in to the near post and Al-Droubi had to be alert to push the ball away with Freddie Ford and Stewart completing the clearance.

PHOTOS by James Brown

It was end-to-end at this stage with Bates seeing an effort well saved by Gooch before Cuthbert managed to take the sting out of a shot from Mvioki with a block that was then comfortable for Al-Droubi. With half-time approaching, Williams got on the end of a half-cleared corner and fired towards the near-post and Gooch did well to get down low and keep it out.

Just three minutes after the break, another battling run by Bates saw him get past his marker and beat the keeper with just a nudge forward but it didn’t have the pace to cross the line and Dan Sears managed to clear off the line.

The Woods had started the half really well and from a well-delivered Stewart corner, Cuthbert nodded a header just over the bar before Williams turned provider to set up Stewart for a shot from distance which flew well over the top.

The Eagles continued to work hard but were coming up against a well-drilled Northwood defence who restricted their attack, especially top scorer Henry Snee who rarely got a look-in and the visitors gradually changed personnel with a series of substitutions which included former Woods defender Enock Ekongo, recently recovered from an appendix operation.

On 70 minutes, Williams was put through on goal but a very tight offside call pulled him back before a shot on goal and two minutes later Ford raced through onto a net ball from Dan Vincent. The youngster cut inside Sears and went for goal and Gooch could only push the ball onto the post and was grateful that it rebounded straight back to him. The Woods continued to search for a second goal. Williams and Bombelenga combined to put Stewart in space down the right flank and he knocked in the perfect hanging cross which Williams met with a good header but Gooch was equal to it with a strong two-handed claw away.

Osa Otote replaced Bombelenga on 79 minutes for Northwood’s first change and two minutes later, the home side doubled their advantage as Williams twisted and turned his marker Sears around the edge of the box before drilling a left-foot shot through the defender’s legs and in off the far post. It certainly relieved any pressure for the final thirteen minutes of play and the Woods saw it out reasonably comfortably. Just one more substitution saw Jamie Kennedy replaced the hard-working Ford for his first action since October and the Eagles were restricted to just one effort on goal when a late free-kick saw a flicked header blocked by Al-Droubi with Folarin clearing away the loose ball to ensure that first clean sheet.

With the two sides immediately above them both winning, the Woods remain in the bottom four but with some much better form to build on when second-placed Hertford Town come to visit the Skyline next Saturday.

REPORT by Alan Evans