Match Report
by Robin Piper
Northwood moved
back above Concord Rangers in the race for the last play-off place
after a comfortable win over their already relegated neighbours.
Woods were
unchanged from the weekend draw with Chatham, while the visitors
featured a number of former Northwood players, goalkeeper Ben
Harris, Gary Edwards and player-manager Steve Hale, who named
himself as one of the substitutes.
Woods had a
couple of early chances, Rob Ursell failing to make the most of the
opportunity after a slick move involving James Burgess and Danny
Power, whilst Eugene Ofori sent a shot into the arms of Harris.
However,
Northwood didn’t have to wait long for the opening goal, as the
unfortunate Edwards deflected Gary Burrell’s low cross past Harris
to give Woods a 9th minute lead.
Burrell
continued to make inroads down the left flank but the Borough
defence were managing to clear the danger.
Northwood were
pressing for a second goal, Chris Seeby going close with a
free-header from Ursell’s corner before the latter saw his low shot
turned away by Harris.
The Borough
goal continued to live a charmed life as Eugene Ofori’s header
rattled the crossbar, with Harris clawing away Seeby’s follow-up
effort.
Hillingdon
almost caught Northwood napping as a quickly taken Shaun Grant
free-kick found the unmarked Joseph Gallagher, whose shot was dealt
with by Mitch Swain.
Woods were
working themselves into some useful positions but they were lacking
the killer touch in front of goal, another chance going begging as a
crowd of players were an unable to convert Ursell’s ball into the
danger area.
Borough gave
Northwood another scare when a quick break from Lucas Williams ended
with him dragging his shot wide of the mark.
The opening
half ended on a controversial note when Harris was lucky to stay on
the pitch after he pulled Ofori to the ground as the Woods striker
shaped to roll the ball into an empty net, the referee showing a
yellow card to the fortunate keeper.
Northwood were
quickly on the offensive after the break, Ofori poking the ball wide
after he chased down a long ball out of defence.
Borough boss
Hale introduced himself midway through the half and the former
Woods’ hot-shot almost made an immediate impact as he flashed a shot
across the face of goal.
At the other
end, another Burrell ball across the face of goal was cleared for a
corner as Woods strived for further goals to put the game beyond the
visitors.
Northwood made
a double substitution on 71 minutes, Hugo Figueiredo and Kyle
Matthews being introduced for Burrell and Ofori respectively.
Woods continued
to threaten with Power’s speculative shot hitting the crossbar.
But the elusive
second goal finally arrived on 73 minutes following a neat
interchange between Matthews and Ursell, the latter giving Harris no
chance with a smart finish.
The impressive
Power rattled the woodwork once more with a long range shot as Woods
threatened more goals.
Danny Brown
replaced Gary Senior as the game moved into the latter stages, and
the substitute made sure of the points as he scored Northwood’s
third goal on 86 minutes, converting the rebound after Harris had
saved John Christian’s penalty-kick, awarded after Edwards had
upended Figueiredo.
PHOTO GALLERY (Click thumbnail to enlarge)
Photos: James Solomon
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