Match Report
by Alan Evans

It’s always a difficult time between Christmas and New Year as people tend to be at a loss as to what to do other than watch The Great Escape on TV or go to the sales at the nearest DFS, but the Woods had the better option of a sunny day out at Stamford.

It was Northwood’s first-ever trip to the picturesque Lincolnshire village where the BBC series of Middlemarch was filmed, and those that arrived early were able to stroll around the narrow streets and take in the surroundings under blue skies. Those that arrived on time were greeted by the first signs of what was to come as a light sprinkling of rain was quickly followed by the first deluge.

It left the pitch in a saturated, though not unplayable state, so it was game on with Colin Payne welcoming back Danny Julienne in place of Wayne Carter, while Elliott Buchanan replaced the injured David Warner.

First out of the blocks were the Woods, resplendent in their all yellow strip, which swiftly turned shades of black and brown in places. Just ten minutes had elapsed when Mark Nicholls hit a clever free-kick into the channel and Peter Dean swept a first-time shot past goalkeeper Martin Kearney.

The Northwood skipper quite rightly celebrated but he was soon to show the reverse side of his character as he talked his way into the first yellow card of the day just a minute later – a two-match ban will result.

The rain continued, and the Leicestershire referee did appear to play the “local” card during a first-half that Stamford seemed to get more than their fair share of 50/50 decisions, but the home side failed to take advantage.

The Woods held the lead to half-time and it seemed that they were quite likely to threaten to end the Daniels’ recent winning form.

Then came the half-time interval. Stamford manager Graham Drury made a change by bringing on Stuart Wilson in place of Scott Musgrove on the left and he was clearly a heavy ground performer. Just four minutes after the restart it was Harris who hit a long crossfield ball to find Rob Harris unmarked. He cut the ball back into the path of Scott Taylor and when Rob Bullivant saved his effort, the Woods defence went missing and Jason Turner was able to fire home. It was almost a carbon copy of the goal conceded against Wealdstone.

Northwood responded well for a time, with Jerome Hall firing one effort wide and when Buchanan broke quickly after a Rob Bullivant throw out, a real chance seemed on. The youngster cut in from the right flank and laid an excellent ball into the path of Dean but unlike in the first-half, he dallied too long, was caught in possession, and when the ball rebounded back to him, he only found the side-netting.

Lee Tunnell replaced the tiring Hall as the conditions deteriorated further on the hour but just five minutes later, Stamford scored the important second goal. The defence went missing as a ball was played into the box and Rob Harris had plenty of time to fire past the unprotected Bullivant.

It was the kind of conditions where a referee is rarely going to give a penalty, so Nicholls’ claims when he was brought down in the box by a melee of tangled legs after 75 minutes were summarily dismissed.

The home side dominated the mud wrestling in the closing stages, with the Woods resorting to desperate tactics as James Shipperley and Julienne picked up yellow cards, but it was the visitors who went closest to changing things with just two minutes left. Nicholls again was the architect with a free-kick which he curled in neatly the far post, and Julienne stuck out a foot which only managed to steer the ball just the wrong side of the unguarded post.

On a day when most games were postponed or abandoned, the Woods will probably wish this one had gone the same way but they lost the lottery in the second-half to be narrowly beaten by a side now leading the table.