After six weeks of hard-work and preparation for the big day, coupled with a pre-season campaign of rehearsals that had highlighted plenty of plus points, the Woods opened their Zamaretto League season with a welcome barrage of goalscoring.

Last season’s top scorer Scott Orphanou led the way with a delightful hat-trick, and got off the mark as early as the second minute, playing a neat exchange of passes with Kyle Matthews before stroking the ball past goalkeeper Gary Ross. Just five minutes later the Woods were awarded a free-kick just outside the box for a foul on John Christian as he shaped to shoot and Ryan Tackley curled his shot over the wall and inside the post to increase the lead.

Bedfont picked up a number of cautions as they attempted to keep in the game but Northwood remained in control and after Christian – denied by Ross – and Dean Wallace – with a shot over the top – had gone close, they increased their lead after 37 minutes. Scott Raper, making his Woods debut, rose to meet a Christian corner and headed powerfully past the motionless Ross.

The Peacocks responded at half-time by introducing the experience of former Woods defender Fergus Moore to their back-line, which took the number of ex-Northwood players in the Bedfont side to three, alongside Gavin Hart and Kevin Chakaodza. It made little immediate difference as just four minutes later, Orphanou raced onto a Wallace through-ball and fired past Ross, only to see the ball rebound back off the post. Retrieving the ball, the Woods striker then went down too theatrically to a challenge from behind and picked up a yellow card for his troubles.

Just a minute later, Christian tried his luck from distance once again, and this time Ross wasn’t able to hold on, with Orphanou showing a great strikers’ instinct to reach the loose ball and toe-poke it past the flailing ‘keeper.

Bedfont immediately made two further changes, adding the pace of Sam Arkin and the power of former Arsenal striker Aaron Samuel to their attacking options. It lifted their game to the extent that they enjoyed a short spell of dominance, with Samuel testing Mitch Swain with a long-range effort and then Moore heading in a Hart cross to reduce the arrears after 56 minutes, despite Swain getting a hand to it.

Other than that, the Woods’ new defence was looking solid, though, and when Orphanou completed his hat-trick when heading in a corner from close-range it was game over.  Mark Barnham rang the changes, allowing both Orphanou and the hard-working Matthews to take a rest, with Leon Osei and new-boy Wayne Jackson coming on up front. The next ten minutes was all Northwood, as Jackson got well involved, setting up Christian for another good strike, which was well saved by Ross.

Osei then jinked his way through the defence from the halfway-line before firing across the goal and wide of the far post and another substitute, Rodney Hicks replacing scorer Tackley for the final stages, also had a great chance but his shot flashed across the goal in a similar fashion.

After all that, stoppage-time allowed Bedfont to go home with a further consolation when Jon-Barrie Bates floated in a free-kick which caught the Woods ball-watching and James Ward rammed it home.

The final scoreline of 5-2 flattered the visitors on the day, and was the best start to a Northwood season since 1989, when our London Spartan League side recorded a victory by the same score at Thamesmead Town.  These two results are only bettered by the Woods’ start to the 1975/76 Middlesex League campaign when a visit to North Greenford United ended in a 7-3 success, with Gary Cooper notching five goals. It was therefore the first time we have scored five goals in an opening day home fixture as a senior side.

Report by ALAN EVANS

Photos by James Brown