Northwood		Pre-season friendly Chestnut Avenue, Northwood	Hampton & R.B.
Mitch Swain	1	Kick Off	1	Kevin Davies
Gary Meakin	2	7.45 p.m.	2	Ashley Smith
Gary Burrell	3	Attendance	3	Tom Bird
Michael Peacock	4	67	4	Orlando Jeffrey
Chris Seeby	5	H/T	5	John Scarborough
Ryan Tackley	6	2-1	6	Dean Wells
Rob Ursell	7	Scorers	7	Jamie Collins
Mark Burgess (Capt.)	8	Northwood	8	Francis Quarm
Eugene Ofori	9	Peacock 11, Burrell 34, Senior 62	9	Leon Yarnie
Kyle Matthews	10	Hampton & R.B.	10	Lawrence Yaku
John Christian	11	Yaku	11	Stuart Lake
Substitutes		Bookings	Substitutes
Harry Smart	12	Northwood	12	Dave Torpey
Danny Power	14	n/a	14	Graham Hooper
Lee Holland	15	Hampton & R.B.	15	John McDonald
Laurie Walters	16	n/a	16	Marcello Fernandes
Garry Senior	17	Sent Off	17	Nana Badu
Seye Adegoke	18	Northwood	18	Sam Tucknott
Hugo Figueiredo	19	n/a	19	Elliott Braithwate
		Hampton & R.B.	20	Keiran Knight
		n/a	21	Joe Talbot
Referee: Mr Tony Power

 

Northwood continued where they left off on Saturday with another home win, this time against leading Conference South outfit Hampton & Richmond Borough.

Eugene Ofori and Kyle Matthews were partnered together in attack whilst Ryan Tackley replaced the unfit Bradley Hewitt in the three-man defensive system which worked so well against Crystal Palace. There was also a change at right wing-back, where Gary Meakin came in for Danny Power.

The visitors had the first chance of the evening after five minutes after Woods failed to clear a corner, but John Scarborough’s close-range effort flew over the home crossbar.

Northwood were soon on the attack as Ofori worked himself into a dangerous position but he was forced wide by goalkeeper Kevin Davies. The Hampton ‘keeper was again called into action again as he produced flying saves to deny both Rob Ursell and Matthews.

But Davies was left helpless as Woods opened their account on 11 minutes, Michael Peacock rising above all and sundry to power home a header from a Matthews corner.

Hampton restored parity on 32 minutes when former Northwood favourite Lawrence Yaku despatched a glancing header beyond Mitch Swain following a free-kick into the box.

Woods responded almost immediately, and they regained the lead on 34 minutes, Ofori creating the opening for Gary Burrell, who calmly stroked the ball home. Northwood survived a goalmouth scramble on the stroke of half-time as Yaku and Ashley Smith saw their efforts blocked by Swain.

Lee Holland and Hugo Figueiredo were introduced for Meakin and Ursell at the start of the second period, but Woods were almost caught cold as Swain saved well from another former Northwood striker, Kieran Knight.

Figueiredo almost extended the lead as he broke clear of the Hampton defence but Francis got enough hand on the shot to deflect it wide of the upright, whilst at the other end Tackley blocked on the line.

Gary Senior replaced Ofori on the hour-mark and the Woods striker made an immediate impact as he finished with aplomb after being sent clear by Figueiredo to make it 3-1 after 62 minutes.

Harry Smart, Laurie Walters, Seye Adegokan  and Danny Power were introduced as second-half substitutes as Woods maintained a firm grip on proceedings with the visitors failing to trouble the home defence.

Chances were at a premium for the remainder of the game with neither ‘keeper being seriously tested, Woods deservedly taking the honours against their higher-ranked opponents. 

Report by ROBIN PIPER

Photos by James Brown to follow