The Woods have started the New Year with a real bang and they notched their third win in eight days with another victory over Buckinghamshire rivals. Having won at Marlow to end a long losing run, and then dispatched Beaconsfield Sycob, it was Burnham who were next in line and the visitors had the advantage of having already won at Chestnut Avenue this season in the FA Trophy.

Steve Hale made just two changes to the starting line-up with Scott Raper in for the injured Ryan Tackley at left-back, while top scorer Scott Orphanou returned to the starting line-up in place of Ikenna Ofoche, who reverted to the bench alongside new signing Jake Lovell.

On a pitch that was a bit of a pudding around the centre circle, both sides struggled to create much in the early stages but it was Burnham who got to grips with things quickest and Michael Parkin had to be at his best to tip over a great strike from the Blues top scorer Ryan Bird after 17 minutes. The Woods were still struggling to make inroads when Burnham took the lead ten minutes later as Yashwa Romeo twisted and turned past Raper wide on the right and sent over a cross which found Bird unmarked and he steered his header neatly inside the post.

Northwood were restricted to just one effort on goal in the first half, which saw Miles Jones try a long-range effort that was too close to goalkeeper Sam Mazurek. Burnham went closer to adding to the scoreline when Will Dunlop headed over from a Jordan Lumsden free-kick but generally there was little for the crowd to get excited by.

The Woods had come from behind to win a few days earlier, and they again looked much brighter after the restart. Warren Whitely began to threaten and set up Jones for a chance which he miskicked badly and shortly after Raper headed a corner just over the bar.

Adrian Sear shot straight at Parkin and also fired another shot over the top, but it was Northwood who were gaining the upper hand when they were gifted an equaliser after 65 minutes as Dunlop knocked a ball back towards goal, which wrong-footed Mazurek and the ‘keeper was unable to recover quick enough to prevent it crossing the line.

Two minutes later, Burnham could have regained the lead as a cross picked out Bird again but his hooked shot failed to beat Parkin who held onto his effort gratefully. Having survived that, the Woods surged forward with James Bent shooting wide and then a swift attack and cross from Bent saw first Whitely bundled over in the box and then Orphanou clearly tripped by Dave Tilbury as he raced in on goal. The latter produced the Referee’s whistle, a yellow card for Tilbury, and a penalty which Bent coolly slotted home to put the Woods in front. But there was a downside, too, as Orphanou had to leave the field having jarred his knee when being fouled.

He was replaced by Lovell, who had joined from Beaconsfield Sycob since playing against Northwood at the weekend, and he had a great opportunity to make an almost immediate impact when a great ball from Whitely put him through on goal. He appeared to do everything right, racing past his marker and then side-stepping Mazurek, but he was unable to put enough pace on his shot and the ‘keeper managed to grab hold of it as he knocked it towards the empty net.

Whitely almost added a third soon after as he burst through but was denied by a desperate defensive block by Sear. From the resulting corner, Bent knocked the ball in and Raper timed his run to perfection to flick a header past Mazurek for a third goal that made the game safe for the Woods.

Jones had a good shot saved by Mazurek in the closing stages, and Parkin also made a good save to deny substitute Jordan Dowdican but Northwood were happy to settle for the 3-1 victory and a further climb away from the bottom of the table.

Report by ALAN EVANS