Northwood returned to winning form with this narrow victory over Middlesex rivals Bedfont Town but had to rely on a strong defensive performance to keep out their opponents who rallied well despite playing with ten men for almost two-thirds of the match. Having been denied three points on Saturday against Aylesbury by a last-minute goalkeeping error, Northwood manager Gary Meakin kept faith with the same starting line-up for this one and again they created, and missed, plenty of chances throughout.

It all looked very promising from the start as Oliver Hawkins had already headed one Jonathan Constant cross wide when the Woods took a sixth minute lead. Jack Hutchinson ran onto a through-ball and as Bedfont ‘keeper Gary Ross came out to clear, he miskicked and Hutchinson headed the loose ball for goal. Ross scrambled back and just managed to flick the ball up against the bar but Ben Alexander was alert to it and headed home the rebound for his fourth goal in seven appearances.

The added interest in the game was the appearance of Wayne O’Sullivan for the visitors, having been ever-present in the Northwood side up until the previous week before being lured back to his previous club by a bulky wage packet. He had an early opportunity to show his undoubted prowess from a dead-ball with a ninth minute free-kick but Woods keeper Derek Lewis was safely behind it.
The Woods continued to dominate and after 18 minutes, James McCluskey won an important tackle and fed Hawkins who made a good attacking run before slipping the ball through to Alexander but his shot across the face of goal flashed just wide.

Five minutes later, Ronayne Marsh-Brown knocked in a corner which picked out Hawkins but the tall striker again failed to keep the ball under the crossbar and Bedfont had a let-off.  Bedfont had their first real attack of note after 29 minutes when a channel ball saw O’Sullivan get the better of Liam Fowler and he played a neat ball inside to Sol Pinnock but the strikers shot on the turn was well wide.

After 33 minutes, Craig White jinked his way through a couple of challenges before being tripped by Aaron Goode just outside the box. The free-kick came to nothing but the yellow card that was issued did as just five minutes later, a similar run down the left by Constant led to Goode racing across with a challenge that felled the Woods winger at pace and led to a second yellow to leave Bedfont with just ten men. The Woods could have scored immediately as Alexander whipped in the free-kick and Hawkins stole in but glanced his header wide of the post.

Bedfont sacrificed another former Woods player in Dwain Williams to bolster their defence with substitute Mark Gallagher, but there was no sign of any change to the pattern of play in the closing stages of the first-half as good approach work from Marsh-Brown and White led to a chance for Constant but Ross made a fine save.

The visitors’ half-time team-talk must have achieved quite a lot, though, as the Peacocks came out full of running after the break. A sliced clearance from Scott Raper saw the ball spread wide to O’Sullivan who cut in but his shot across the goal was wide of the far post. Then, a quick break from Pinnock saw him roll in fellow striker Lee Scott and he delayed just a fraction too long before pulling the trigger and Marsh-Brown shot across to get in a vital block. The Woods were rattled and having conceded another free-kick, O’Sullivan curled one into the danger-zone but no-one was able to apply the needed touch.

Romaine Walker had replaced Constant and an injured Scott Raper limped off to be replaced by Lee Grant and this seemed to settle Northwood again. Hawkins knocked a good ball to Walker who cut in and saw his shot blocked by the foot of keeper Ross. The ball was only half-cleared back to Walker and this time he cut it back to Marsh-Brown, who blasted wildly over the top.

After 68 minutes, another good move saw Marsh-Brown play a crossfield pass to Hutchinson and he knocked the ball inside to Alexander whose goalbound shot was blocked for a corner. Bedfont had gone all-out attack with their substitutions with Tyrone Sealey and Glenn Garner introduced for Lee Cooper and Scott but their initial thrust had been repelled and the Northwood defence was looking strong again.

After 77 minutes Walker’s wing-play saw him set up White for a chance but he steered his shot wide as the off-target effort count continued to mount but four minutes later Grant combined with Hutchinson to race into the box and at least got his strike on target with Ross keeping it out at the near-post.

It was all one-way in the final ten minutes, with Northwood never looking like giving up the three points this time. White headed a Hutchinson cross over the bar when it looked easier to score; Walker set up fellow substitute Garry Senior for a good chance but he fired well over the top, and then the impressive Hutchinson again found Senior in the box and he spun well on it but still knocked it over the bar.

Finally, in the last minute, Walker cut in from the left again but saw his shot blocked by Senior, and when the loose ball ran to Marsh-Brown, he also only managed to send it into orbit. Thankfully, the missed chances proved not to be costly as the final whistle signalled the end of the game soon after and the Woods had ended a run of three games without a win. Shooting practice must be on the cards at Thursday’s training session though!

Report by ALAN EVANS

Photos to follow...

Photos by James Brown