Match Report
by Robin Piper
Northwood’s
long unbeaten run finally came to end in a tale of two penalties at
Rookery Hill.
The game was
decided by East Thurrock making the most of a fortuitous first-half
penalty award, whilst Rob Ursell was unable to do the same when his
second-half spot-kick was saved by Rocks’ keeper Richard Wray.
Woods had to
make a late change as Ryan Tackley suffered a calf injury in the
warm-up, Lee Holland stepping into the breach at right-back, with
Danny Power switching to left full-back.
Fluent football
was at a premium in the early stages of a game not helped by the
over-use of the referee’s whistle.
Northwood had
to do most of the defending in the opening period as they were
tested by a series of set pieces, Max Cornhill being afforded a
couple of free headers but was unable to beat Woods’ custodian Mitch
Swain.
Northwood were
struggling to make much of an attacking impact, although Anthony
Page wasn’t far away with a header when he latched onto Power’s long
throw into the danger area.
But the pivotal
moment of the game arrived in the second minute of first half
stoppage time, and after Michael Peacock was adjudged to have
tripped Martin Tuohy, Kris Newby stepping up to make no mistake from
the penalty spot.
Woods hoped for
better things after the break but they continued to struggle against
their physically stronger opponents, and Swain was quickly off his
line to smother Kurt Smith’s effort, whilst the striker also shot
wide after getting beyond the Northwood defence.
Hugo Figueiredo
was introduced to the Woods’ attack in place of Solomon Henry on the
hour mark, and the substitute drew a save out of Wray in the home
goal as Northwood began to threaten.
Woods were
thrown a lifeline after Eliott Gresham handled in the box but Wray
guessed right as he dived to his left to save Ursell’s 74th minute
penalty attempt.
The returning
Dwain Williams replaced Holland on 78 minutes as Woods continued to
look for a way back into the game, but they never really looked like
breaking down the Rocks’ rearguard. APage header which failed to
trouble Wray was the nearest they came to doing so.
East Thurrock
almost added a second in added time but the back-tracking Peacock
made a excellent acrobatic goal-line clearance after Tuohy had
lifted the ball beyond Swain.
PHOTO GALLERY (Click thumbnail to enlarge)
Photos: James Brown |
