Northwood 0 Hendon 2
Tuesday 10th August 2010
Northwood's final pre-season friendly fixture was at home to Ryman Premier side Hendon and proved highly competitive in unseasonably wet conditions. It had rained almost throughout the day but the pitch handled it well.
Manager Mark Barnham must have started the match with what would be close to his expected starting line-up for the opening league fixture, and the Woods went close after just eight minutes when Leon Osei let fly from 25 yards but saw goalkeeper Berkley Laurencin tip the ball just over the crossbar.
The same thing happened at the other end when Danny Dyer tested Mitch Swain and the Woods' stopper also palmed the ball over the top.
Northwood have been conceding goals at regular intervals in pre-season, though, and that weakness was exploited again after 18 minutes when a crossfield ball from Lubomir Guentchev caught John Sonuga in no-mans land and put through an unmarked Glenn Garner. At first the forward appeared to have been pushed too far wide by the onrushing Swain, but in fact he steadied himself and knocked in a cool finish.
Another ten minutes later and a cross in from the left caused all sorts of problems and resulted in the ball going in off young midfielder Dean Wallace for an own goal.
There were changes made for the second-half, which saw first-team debuts for former Hendon player Wayne Jackson wide on the left, and also two ex-Northwood youth teamers - Ryan Lee up front and Troy Roach in goal.
It was a better half for the Woods, who should have pulled one back after 54 minutes when Jackson's free-kick had Northwood Player of the Year Michael Peacock, now playing for the Greens, in trouble as he failed to clear and Scott Orphanou's instinctive shot flashed the wrong side of the post.
Ten minutes later another Jackson cross was charged down in the box by a defender's arm and the Referee pointed to the spot. Orphanou struck the ball fairly well, but Laurencin was equal to it, diving low to make a fine save.
Roach made one good save late on to deny Dyer, while Garner also hit a shot that flew over the crossbar.
Northwood: M. Swain (T. Roach 46m), S. Raper (D. Power 46m), M. Burgess (D. Hewinson 70m), J. Sonuga (A. Iwediuno 46m), J. Lindsay (G. Edwards 60m), J. Christian, D. Wallace (S. Sharples 60m), K. Matthews, R. Hicks (W. Jackson 46m), L. Osei (R. Lee 60m), S. Orphanou (A. Cato 85m).
