Northwood were left frustrated as they had to settle for a point after they were held at home by Maldon Town. There were a couple of changes to the Woods’ starting eleven, John Christian returning to the midfield at the expense of Sam Sharples whilst Hugo Figueiredo replaced broken nose victim Scott Orphanou.

Woods were quickly out of the blocks and a sweeping move involving Leon Osei and Aaron Cato almost created an opening for Figueiredo, but the danger was cleared by the Maldon defence. Northwood threatened again as the overlapping Danny Power picked out Eugene Ofori at the far post, but his header was wide of the target whilst Osei saw his shot deflected for a corner.

Having stood up to Woods’ early pressure the visitors began to make an impression as Shawn Beverney went close with a couple of efforts, whilst Jordan Tolan sent a shot over the home crossbar.

Northwood were soon on the attack once again with Ofori seeing his close range stab cleared off the line, while Osei was denied by a last ditch tackle from Liam White. But Woods weren’t to be denied, and they took the lead on 37 minutes as Cato and Power combined to release Osei, whose hanging cross was headed home by Ofori.

Maldon looked to redress the balance and they almost succeeded on the stroke of half-time, but Bradley Hewitt was on hand to block Benson Paka’s fierce shot.

Northwood could have increased their lead in the opening minute of the second-half but Ofori was denied by ‘keeper Jack Smelt after a neat through-ball from Anthony Page, before Ofori was in the thick of it again after Christian’s low shot bounced awkwardly for Smelt but the Woods’ striker was unable to convert the rebound.

Buoyed by their reprieve, Maldon managed to fashion an equaliser on 49 minutes as Northwood ‘keeper Bobby Smith lost his footing as he looked to deal with a corner and the ball fell kindly for Beverney who finished emphatically.

The game had opened up nicely and good work from Cato resulted in Chris Seeby testing Smelt with a low shot, before Osei managed to get beyond the Maldon defence and take the ball around Smelt but his shot ended up in the side netting. At the other end Smith dived full length to turn Stan Muguo’s curling 35-yard shot around the post to safety.

Maldon were enjoying a good spell, and Fola Onibuje got the better of Seeby and Michael Peacock to storm into the Northwood box but he dragged his shot across the face of goal. Woods were still creating chances of their own, and Smelt saved a shot from Page, before the hosts were left speechless as the referee turned down what looked liked a blatant penalty when Osei’s shot was handled in the box.

Maldon made a double substitution whilst John Sonuga was added to the Northwood attack with Figueiredo making way. But the visitors seemed content with a point and Woods found it increasingly difficult to make inroads as the game moved towards finale.

Sam Sharples replaced the tiring Christian as the game moved into stoppage time and Maldon were indebted to Smelt who pulled of a smart save to tip Peacock’s diving header over the bar following Cato’s in-swinging corner to ensure the spoils were shared, a fair reflection on the afternoon’s proceedings.

Northwood manager Dave Anderson voiced his feelings after the match: “I am growing more frustrated as an increasing number of refereeing decisions are affecting our results. I don’t like to criticise the officials as they have a difficult job, but I felt we should have had a penalty today.
“As to our overall performance, I thought we were a little cautious in the first-half but I was pleased with the lads’ response after the break. Although it might be viewed as two points dropped today, our recent points tally has been good and we are still well placed for a play-off push.”

Report by ROBIN PIPER

Photos by James Brown