Ten-man Northwood made it four wins on the bounce with this battling victory at high-flying Woodford United, who were left to reflect the cost of two missed penalties as the Woods stole victory. With Howard Hall unavailable, Ed Hatcher filled in at right-back for his first League start as the Woods looked to maintain their recent run of winning form.

The heavy and bumpy pitch was never going to provide much in the way of free-flowing football and from the start it appeared to be the home side that had the tools to cope best with Neil King knocking balls long to the strike-force of Ricky Johnson and Nathaniel Liburd who had plenty of height advantage. Woodford won the first of many corners after just three minutes and the ball fell to Chris Jackson, whose shot came back off the crossbar.

The Woods had to get organised in defence and Michael Parkin led the way by keeping out Johnson’s touch to a King free-kick soon after and then the ‘keeper also held on well to a shot from Liburd after the striker cut in from the right.

Scott Raper made a strong block to thwart another Liburd effort and Northwood had little to offer going forward at this stage, though a James Bent cross did lead to what looked like a kick on Raper in the area but somehow resulted in a free-kick to the home side. Woodford’s attacks became less frequent as the half wore on but they still went close when Johnson saw his header come back off of a post and the same player was just inches away from getting at touch to a deep cross from Tommy Kinch.

Having reserved their best for second-half performances in the past few games, hopes were high for Northwood to come more into things after the break but Hatcher picked up a yellow card for a foul almost instantly and that was to play a significant part in the proceedings.

The Woods held  their own but on the hour mark, Liburd raced past Hatcher and centred only for Johnson to meet it well but knock his shot over the bar. Two minutes later Hatcher slipped when defending a through-ball and bundled over Johnson when trying to recover. A penalty was the decision with a further yellow card meaning the Woods were down to ten men. Johnson took the kick himself and though Parkin seemed to dive the wrong way, he was still able to get a hand to his shot and punch the ball away with Ross Harris drilling the loose ball across goal and wide.

Despite being down to ten men, the Woods began to really dig deep from that point and make Woodford battle over every inch of the lumpy surface. Miles Jones started to get forward more and fired well wide after a good build-up on 66 minutes and then Wayne Jackson chipped a free-kick which dipped and finished only just over the crossbar. The defence, strengthened by Bent dropping back to full-back, repelled most attacks and when the home side did get through, Parkin remained solid, keeping out a Liburd header and then a chip shot from Daniel Burke.

Dean Wallace replaced the hard-working Tom Windsor for the final twenty minutes; his first action since starting a suspension at the beginning of December, and the fresh legs added more impetus to the Northwood rearguard action with Jackson making a superb block on a shot from Kinch. A hard-fought point began to look a possibility and Jake Lovell and Lucas Williams were also introduced as time began to run down but after 88 minutes, the Woods shocked the home side by taking the lead. Jones found the energy to race forward from midfield and a neat exchange of passes with Lovell sent him ahead of the defence and through on goal before finishing clinically and celebrating with his customary somersaults.

Woodford tried to press to rescue a point but Northwood looked determined and they appeared to heading for victory until the home side were granted a lifeline in stoppage-time. Jones went to clear a blocked cross and it appeared to hit his side but the Referee was keen to point to the spot and give the Reds a get out of jail free card. This time it was substitute Liam Ruddick who volunteered his prowess from twelve yards but he skied his kick high over the bar; justice on the decision appeared to have been served.

So, the final whistle saw the Woods home 1-0 for what was their first away win in a night game since the 4-0 victory at Wingate & Finchley back in December 2009; more than a year earlier.

Report by ALAN EVANS

Photos to follow...

Photos by James Brown