Northwood 2 Harrow Borough 4
Saturday 24th July 2010
Northwood |
 |
| Mitch Swain | 1 |
| Danny Power | 2 |
| Ryan Tackley | 3 |
| Mark Burgess | 4 |
| John Sonuga | 5 |
| John Christian | 6 |
| Rodney Hicks | 7 |
| Sam Sharples | 8 |
| Scott Orphanou | 9 |
| Leon Osei | 10 |
| Aaron Cato | 11 |
| Kyle Matthews (7, 46m) | 12 |
| Lee Holland (2, 46m) | 14 |
| Andy Morley (8, 46m) | 15 |
| Scott Raper (5, 46m) | 16 |
| Murray Williamson (10, 46m) | 17 |
| Jamie Lindsay (4, 46m) | 18 |
| Hugo Figueiredo (11, 46m) | 19 |
| Mark Britt | 20 |
The Woods returned to Chestnut Avenue for their first home fixture in three months as the pre-season campaign really got going with a testing game against Ryman Premier neighbours Harrow Borough.
Having trialled thirty players on the 3G surface at Hillingdon Borough a week earlier, Mark Barnham went into this game with a squad of eighteen men, with only Anthony Page sitting it out with a slight injury problem.
It was a thoroughly entertaining first-half for a good crowd enjoying the Middlesex sunshine.But after an even start to the game, Harrow were awarded a free-kick just outside the box and dead-ball expert Lewis Cook curled the ball round the wall and in for a fine finish.
Northwood rallied quickly though, and hit back when Scott Orphanou showed his usual battling qualities to make room for a strike from twenty yards and it flew past the 'keeper to open his account for the season.
Just a couple of minutes later Borough were back in front when a near-post corner was met at the near-post by defender Dean Marney and the ball rocketed into the net.
Again, the Woods were able to get themselves back on level terms though with Orphanou cynically tripped by Marney right on the edge of the box. The Referee pointed to the spot and the Woods striker stepped up to convert for his second of the game.
It was defensive frailties that struck again before half-time to give Harrow a narrow lead at the interval. A set-piece was once more the problem with an inswinging corner not dealt with by either Mitch Swain or John Sonuga, and defender Wayne Walters stabbed the ball home from a few feet.
It was time for the defensive triallists to appear in the second-half, with Scott Raper, Andy Morley and Jamie Lindsey forming the back-line. Murray Williamson also had his first run-out for the club in midfield.
There were plenty of chances for the Woods to have got back into the game, with Raper hitting a post, Ryan Tackley seeing a shot blocked on the line, Kyle Matthews also striking the woodwork and then Hugo Figueiredo lobbing a shot just over the bar.
Yet it was Harrow who scored the only goal of the second-half when triallist Ben Dyett followed up to score after another effort had crashed back off the crossbar.
REPORT by ALAN EVANS
