Northwood		Ryman One North Cricklefield Stadium, Ilford	Ilford
Mitch Swain	1	Kick Off	1	Pape Diagne
Danny Power	2	3.00 p.m.	2	Steve Howe
Ryan Tackley	3	Attendance	3	Jack Sawyer
Mark Burgess (Capt.)	4	60	4	Jamie Pooley
Chris Seeby	5	H/T	5	Michael Noble
Bradley Hewitt	6	0-0	6	Tony Russell (Capt.)
John Christian	7	Scorers	7	Bradley Drisdale
Kyle Matthews	8	Northwood	8	Getro Kilap
Eugene Ofori	9	Ofori 48	9	Wesley Hause
Gary Senior	10	Ilford	10	Troy Hewitt
Gary Burrell	11	n/a	11	Danny Berg
Substitutes		Bookings	Substitutes
Danny Brown	12	Northwood	12	Chris Thomas (4)
Anthony Page	14	Christian, Power	14	Victor Omofbehin (7)
Hugo Figueiredo (10)	15	Ilford	15	Kane Messenger (11)
Lee Holland (2)	16	Howe, Russell	16	Derek Hawtin
Rob Ursell	17	Sent Off	17	Neil Matthews
		Northwood
		n/a
		Ilford
		n/a
Referee: Mr G. Atkins			Assistants: Mr J. Stanley & Mr G. Tilley

 

 

Northwood finished the season the same way they started it with a win at the Cricklefield Stadium, but sadly it wasn’t enough to secure a play-off place as Concord finished a point ahead after winning at Maldon Town.

There was one change to the Woods’ line-up with Kyle Matthews replacing Rob Ursell in the supporting striker’s role.

Northwood made a positive start on a bone-dry surface made more difficult for the players by a stiff breeze blowing down the pitch.

Woods created a number of early half-chances the best being a Eugene Ofori cross which somehow evaded Gary Senior with the goal at his mercy.

Ilford were showing signs of their recent improvement and Northwood ‘keeper Mitch Swain was called into action as he saved Bradley Drisdale’s low shot following a swift counter-attack.

Woods had some more defending to do as Danny Berg’s corner was met by a Tony Russell header, but Mark Burgess was on hand to clear off the line.

Burgess then featured down the other end when he sent a shot narrowly wide following a neat interchange between John Christian and Senior.

After a lively opening the game developed into a scrappy affair which wasn’t helped by an over-fussy referee who wasn’t prepared to make allowances for the difficult conditions.

Northwood made a change just before the break as a frustrated Danny Power, who had received an unfortunate yellow card, was replaced at right-back by Lee Holland.

Woods began the second half with a new look attack after Senior made way for Hugo Figueiredo.

And Northwood didn’t have to wait long for the breakthrough goal as Ilford ‘keeper Pape Diagne made a hash of Eugene Ofori’s shot from the edge of the box to give Woods the lead on 47 minutes.

Ofori went close to adding a second goal but this time Diagne was able to parry the striker’s header.

Northwood continued to press as Bradley Hewitt’s far post header from Gary Burrell’s corner flew past the post.

Figueiredo was the next to threaten following Ryan Tackley’s throw into the box, but his lobbed shot cleared the Ilford crossbar.

It was now one-way traffic and Kyle Matthews sent in a low ball which almost presented a chance for Christian and Hewitt, before the former saw his shot fly narrowly over.

Ilford had spent most of the second period pinned in their own half but a rare corner caused some confusion in the Northwood box before Christian’s headed clearance averted the danger.

Woods continued to push for further goals but the single goal was enough to secure the victory but alas, not a play-off place after news of Concord’s win filtered through to bring the curtain down on the season.

By ROBIN PIPER

Photos by James Solomon