Click here to see the action on WoodsTV

Northwood slumped to another heavy defeat at home to Slough Town in a match that started brightly but ended in a fogbound disaster for the home side.

Skipper Mark Burgess, Ryan Tackley, Wayne Jackson and Scott Orphanou all returned to the starting line-up following the weekend’s disaster against Daventry Town and hopes were high for a return to winning form against play-off seeking Slough. The visitors had former Woods boss Dave Anderson on the bench as Assistant Manager, while they also included a host of ex-players in their side.

And the Woods couldn’t have made a better start as with just thirteen minutes on the clock they took the lead. It was a classy sweeping move forward involving Tackley, Jackson, Miles Jones and then Jake Lovell, who pounced on some hesitation in defence by Chris Seeby to square the ball for Orphanou to knock past goalkeeper Charlie Fanner.

Northwood’s pacy attack was causing the Slough defence problems, and when a long ball sent Orphanou away, skipper Steve Perkins cynically clipped his heels and picked up a yellow card. At that stage Slough had little to show for having had more possession but Tom Windsor gave away a free-kick on 22 minutes and Stuart Swift tested Michael Parkin with a low strike which the ‘keeper held well.

Disaster struck just five minutes later though as Parkin pulled up in some distress and had to come off with a muscular injury. There was no recognised goalkeeper amongst the Northwood substitutes and it was clear that there was no game plan as first Burgess and then Zac Gill donned the green jersey, with defender Ricky Machel coming on as a substitute.

Almost immediately Slough tested the rookie custodian with a free-kick chipped into the danger-zone and he got nowhere near Sean Sonner’s header which went over the bar. Another free-kick was conceded seven minutes later, and this time Swift hit his left-foot strike sweet and true inside the near post with Gill rooted to the spot.

Once level, the Rebels had renewed confidence and although Orphanou headed a free-kick over the top in a rare counter, Slough did grab the important lead before the break. It was yet another Swift free-kick that did the damage, with former Woods striker Sonner getting his head to the ball to flick it beyond the late dive of Gill.

The likelihood of a second-half comeback by the Woods seemed small and just a few minutes in Steve Sinclair saw his effort come back off the crossbar. The rest of the half was difficult for this writer to report on as visibility from the thick fog which had now engulfed the ground was down to about thirty yards. Thankfully, the Slough website came up with video footage and that just about gives us the bare bones!

Gill did make one save to deny Danny Burnell after 58 minutes but three minutes later a corner dropped to the far post and Burnell pounced to get his name on the scoresheet. The Woods rallied with James Bent heading a Jackson cross over the bar and Windsor also drove a shot which flashed wide of the far post but the final ten minutes gave a flattering slant to the final scoreline.

After 81 minutes Sonner flicked in to add his second of the game and then substitute Simon Martin broke away to add number five two minutes from time. Miles Jones forced Fanner into a good save in stoppage-time but in the end it was a disappointing result for the Woods following such a bright start.

Report by ALAN EVANS