It was touch and go as to whether this game would actually go ahead due to the freezing overnight temperatures. Northwood would have been eager to get back to winning ways following Tuesday’s disappointing 1-0 defeat to fellow strugglers and neighbours North Greenford United, a match which saw the Woods’ 100% start to 2011 come to a premature end.

The game begun brightly for Northwood, as they went within inches of taking an early lead, Miles Jones’ toe poke going just past the right hand post. What a dream start that would have been!  But Daventry were slowly coming into the game and probably should have done better when Josh Blake headed over from close range. From the evidence of the opening exchanges, it looked like it was going to be a very tight affair, but Daventry’s slick passing and attempted counter attacking were causing a few problems for Northwood. 

But the Northamptonshire based visitors had their own chance, and would have been one to the good if it wasn’t for a fine save from Michael Parkin who showed great reflexes to deny Tom Berwick. However, they weren’t about to wait much longer, Northwood concentration lapsed momentarily and after Zac Gill blocked the first shot, Howard Forinton was on hand to shoot on the turn and beat Parkin, despite the Northwood ‘keeper getting a hand on it.

The goal appeared to give Town that little bit of confidence, and barely five minutes after going in front, they doubled their lead and took a firm foothold in the game. Daventry were awarded a free kick near halfway and broke away superbly: the resulting cross was blocked by Gill by once again, but the ball found its way to Forinton, who slotted home, capitalizing on Northwood’s slack defending. In the aftermath of the second Daventry goal, Northwood striker Jake Lovell was shown a straight red card; presumably he said something the referee didn’t like. Northwood were now firmly up against it, two down, a man down, and were looking a bit unsettled after two quick-fire goals from the visitors.      

Steve Hale would have wanted a response from his players and brought off the injured Scott Raper at half-time and threw on Ed Hatcher at left-back. But all Hale’s words went out of the window when four minutes into the second half, Berwick unleashed a powerful volley past Parkin to all but end Northwood’s hopes of a comeback. That goal seemed to undermine the foundations of the Woods, but Jones went close with a volley of his own, one of just a few bright points for Northwood. But after two quick-fire half-chances from Warren Whitely, Northwood were once again on the back foot and could have been further adrift had it not been for a goal line clearance from a covering defender.

Northwood were upping the tempo but could not muster any meaningful opportunities and didn’t really test Andy Kemp in the Town goal. After neat build-up play, Daventry went further ahead, Rob Foster smashing into an empty net, and Northwood supporters must have thought it was going to be a repeat of the 7-0 drubbing they received at the hands of Hitchin last month. And barely 4 minutes later, they had good reason to worry, when Gill brought down the advancing attacker, and Berwick coolly placed the ball into the back of the net from the spot-kick. And barely 60 seconds after the restart Northwood again lost possession, and Berwick was on hand to notch up his hat trick and in the process rub the salt firmly into Northwood’s gaping wounds.

It was nowhere near the standard of performance that Northwood have shown on numerous occasions since the turn of the year. It was barely a week ago that Northwood had won four on the spin, but after defeat against North Greenford and an inevitable defeat here, it’s back to square one for Steve Hale and his men. Northwood did thankfully improve in the last quarter of an hour but it was a case of too little too late for the Woods, and missed opportunities and that lack of cutting edge didn’t help the cause. However, Northwood’s lack of concentration at key moments suggested they were architects of their own downfall, and that firmly was the case, in front of a below par crowd of just 94 supporters on a bitterly cold afternoon.

When the final whistle was blown to end proceedings, a number of things crossed my mind. Firstly, Northwood weren’t as bad as they had been in late 2010, but yet they still lost heavily, and secondly I sincerely hope the Woods do not follow suit and go on a similar disastrous spell without a win, as they did prior to victory over Marlow earlier this month.

Steve Hale will undoubtedly demand an improvement from his players when they play Slough on Tuesday evening, where Northwood will look to get back to winning ways following back to back defeats. Fingers crossed they can do just that!                   

Report by MATT FORD

Photos by James Brown