Northwood suffered their first defeat under the tenure of manager Mark Barnham as they endured a frustrating evening at Honeycroft, finishing the game with ten men after Chris Seeby received his marching orders, and going out of the Middlesex Senior Cup at the semi-final stage.

Uxbridge, managed by former Woods boss Tony Choules, included a number of former Northwood favourites so hopes were high for a competitive affair.

There was one change to the Woods’ starting line-up, with Harry Smart making way for Sam Sharples to bolster the midfield with Leon Osei being deployed as the lone striker.

The game began at a lively pace and Northwood threatened first with Aaron Cato and Anthony Page linking well to create an opening for John Christian but his shot was wide of the target. At the other end, goalkeeper Bobby Smith was quickly off his line to save bravely at the feet of Ryan O’Toole.

Woods gradually began to get on top and strung a number of useful moves together but the end product was not forthcoming, although Osei and Page went close with headers. But it wasn’t all one-way traffic, as Smith had to be at his best to tip a fiercely driven effort from Kevin Warner over the crossbar.
Things began to heat up as Danny Power and Gilbert Nuako received yellow cards while former Northwood stalwart Chris Gell also ended up in the referee’s notebook.

And the opening period ended in dramatic style with Uxbridge taking the lead on 43 minutes as O’Toole intercepted Michael Peacock’s attempted back-pass before delivering an emphatic finish.

Northwood pressed for the equaliser after the break, but for all their possession, Woods were failing to make any sort of impression on the organised Uxbridge rearguard and home ‘keeper Carl Dennison was having a quiet evening.

Hugo Figueiredo and John Sonuga were introduced for Sharples and Cato but the substitutions failed to have the desired effect as Northwood continued to shoot blanks in attack.

It was left to O’Toole to show how it should be done, as the lively Uxbridge striker scored his second of the evening on 77 minutes with another clinical strike to book the hosts’ place in the final.

And Northwood’s frustrations continued as Seeby was dismissed after receiving a second yellow card for dissent, a final dampener on a disappointing evening for Mark Barnham’s men.

Report by ROBIN PIPER