Match Report
by Alan Evans
Northwood’s
play-off hopes took another knock on Saturday as they were held to a
2-2 draw at in-form Tilbury, making it just six points picked up from
the Woods last five matches, though four of them have been away from
home.
Dave Anderson had
to adapt his defence following the return of the impressive Michael
Peacock to parent club AFC Wimbledon, subsequently loaned to Ryman
Premier side Ashford Town (Middlesex), and the suspended Danny Power.
Lee Holland came in at right-back, while Mark Burgess reverted to his
more familiar role in central defence. Kyle Matthews was also
unavailable so Rob Ursell replaced him up front.
The Woods
dominated the early stages without creating much in front of goal and
the home side gradually worked their way into the game. Some good
link-up play saw Greg Cohen fire over the bar after 17 minutes and
three minutes later the Dockers went ahead when Cohen knocked in a
corner and unmarked defender Nathan Philip powered home a header.
Northwood were
slow to respond but Eugene Ofori led the forward line well and from
one of his through-balls, Ursell was through on goal, only to see his
shot blocked by the outstretched foot and hand of goalkeeper Andy
Hall.
After 36 minutes
the Woods were presented with a great chance to equalise as Junior
Baker made a hash of an attempted back-pass and with both Ofori and
Ursell closing in a goal seemed inevitable until Ofori ignored the
pass to shoot at Hall’s near post and the ‘keeper held on.
A minute later
Ofori turned provider for Gary Burrell, whose shot on the turn lacked
the power to beat Hall, and then Ursell showed his usual tricks to
leave a defender trailing only to cross disappointingly straight into
Hall’s hands.
The half finished
with Burrell’s cross falling to John Christian but he sliced his shot
well wide and Anderson stormed into the dressing-room with a roasting
clearly on his mind. That resulted in two substitutions for the start
of the second half, with Burrell and the ineffective Solomon Henry
replaced by Hugo Figueiredo and Dwain Williams. Williams moved into an
unfamiliar forward role with Ursell dropping back slightly.
It had an
immediate result, as the very first minute after the restart saw
Williams win a header and find Ofori who set up Figueiredo, and the
young Portuguese winger fired home with his first touch.
Mitch Swain had
to make a rare save from Philip soon after but the balance of play was
with Northwood, and the two subs combined again on 55 minutes, leading
to Williams firing in a shot which Hall failed to hold. Ofori chipped
the loose ball across goal but with no-one to apply the required
touch.
After 62 minutes
a Figueiredo cross fell to Ofori in the box and his strike was palmed
away by the ‘keeper for a corner. It was from this that Anthony Page
knocked the ball down and defender Brad Hewitt cemented his leading
scorer tag with a low stab of a shot that found the far corner.
Ofori was looking
sharp everywhere apart from in front of goal as he searched in vain
for his first goal in Northwood colours. Williams broke through and
crossed for Ofori, who was stretching for a header which flashed wide
of the post and the Woods were left to rue those missed chances after
73 minutes.
Substitute Umaru
Turay, like Figueiredo earlier, made an instant impact with his pace
taking him past Holland and round Burgess before sliding a shot across
Swain and into the net.
Danny Brown came
on for the out-of-sorts Ursell and the final ten minutes again
belonged to Northwood as they pressed throughout. After 80 minutes
Page played a great ball through to Ofori who held off the challenge
of Baker but shot over the top and the striker also had the final
chance three minutes from time as Figueiredo and Williams again
combined to set him up but this time he shot wide of the post.
PHOTO GALLERY
1 (Click thumbnail to enlarge)
Photos: James Solomon
PHOTO GALLERY 2 (Click thumbnail to enlarge)
Photos: James Brown
|
