Northwood made the short trip to Farm Park as they continued their pre-season programme against Combined Counties outfit AFC Hayes.

The Brook are preparing for life at step 6 following their relegation last season and on a balmy summer's evening, the excellent playing surface offered the prospect of a good workout for both sides.

Woods set up with a youthful back three of Liam McCrohan, Imran Uche and Ethan Flanagan in front of goalkeeper Rob Partington, while Matt Cooper and Kweku Lucan occupied the wing-back berths. Chris Gosling, Harry Lodovica and Jaiden Irish made up the midfield, with Alex Witham and Marley Hamilton in attack.

Northwood made a bright start and were ahead after five minutes as Cooper delivered an emphatic top corner finish following Lucan's pullback.

The home keeper pulled off smart saves to deny Lucan and Witham in quick succession, but he was unable to prevent Hamilton heading home Flanagan's knock back following Gosling's corner to extend the lead on thirteen minutes.

Hamilton went close to notching his second goal of the evening when his cross shot from the by-line rebounded off the far post, before Lucan was denied by the keeper.

However,  AFC Hayes were level before the half-hour mark as a long range strike crashed off the underside of the bar and was deemed by the referee to have crossed the line, before a misunderstanding between Partington and Uche led to the equaliser.

There were chances at both ends before the hosts took the lead on 40 minutes with a deflected shot from the edge of the box. And the first half excitement still wasn't over as Lodovica applied a cool finish to restore parity a minute before the whistle for the interval.

Woods came out much changed for the 2nd period with a number of trialists being introduced. There was also a first appearance in pre-season for Dan Pett while Kyran Worrell and Miguel Matos entered the fray as Northwood switched to a 4-3-3 formation.

Woods were enjoying the better of the exchanges as Lodovica rattled the woodwork  with a long range effort with Worrell scooping the follow-up over the bar.

However, Worrell made no mistake when presented with another opportunity on 65 minutes, and he converted from close range to hit the deciding goal, before Partington saved well in the closing stages to confirm Northwood's win.