MATCH REPORTS 2008-09
 

LEIGHTON TOWN RES. 1  NORTHWOOD RES. 2   
 

Woods reserves played Leighton Town away on Tuesday night, which is possibly the start of the long run in and our challenge for a promotion place. However, Northwood carried on from where they left off on Saturday, completely out of sorts.

The side was changed from the previous game, with Richard Vercesi coming in for Elliot Gibbs and John Carter making his debut in place of the injured Joe Cowan. Naithan Hillaire came in for Max Duffy and Jerome Cole replaced the injured Jake O'Meara.

For the first 15 minutes there was only one side on the pitch and they were not wearing yellow (Woods' away strip). Gradually the Woods got into the game and at last put some pressure on the home team. But with some erratic refereeing and no luck in front of goal it remained a struggle.

Woods' second team seemed to be waiting for things to happen rather than making it so. The problem became worse when Richard Vercesi brought down the Leighton striker and they scored from the resulting penalty even though Simon Dean, the Woods goalie, got a hand to it. Simon was in for Mark Britt under the rotation system which has been running all season.

At half-time, the Woods were still a goal down, although having made some good chances, but the paint still came off the dressing room walls at the interval!

To be fair, it did not make any difference, as if anything, the Woods were under the cosh even more after the break. The management team then made a couple of changes to the personnel, with John Daily coming on for Danny Briggs, and Sam Holland replacing Nathan Hillaire.

The Woods defence, with John Carter moving to right back, were battling to hold out, and a couple of glaring misses and a piece of woodwork kept the score the same.

Woods finally levelled with about 15 minutes left when Carter found Sam Holland, and he played it onto Jerome Cole who made a good run. He crossed for Carl Hunt to bag his 17th goal of the season.

The game was then pretty even, and the Woods were hoping to nick a result when a goalmouth scramble in the Leighton area resulted in a very strong penalty appeal. However before the rferee could blow, Will Hudson beat two players and slammed it into the top corner for a very good goal.

Paul Element replaced Hunt with ten minutes to go, giving Northwood a stronger outlet at the end but the scoring was finished for the night and Woods remained on the march.

They will have to play much better on Saturday when they again travel this time to Boreham Wood.

Report: GEOFF FOSTER