Hampton & R.B. Res. 5  Northwood Res. 0

Saturday 16th April 2011

Northwood Res.		Suburban League The Beveree, Hampton
Ben Dowsett	1	Kick Off
Reece Fallon	2	3.00 p.m.
Timi Salako	3	H/T
Jon Aklay	4	0-4
Jamie Lindsay	5	Scorers
Lucas Williams	6	Northwood
Seldyn Grant	7	-
Richard Amofa	8
Prince Alozie	9
Dujon Desagurante	10
Courtney Francis	11
Pat Lawrence (2)	12
Alex Simmons (4)	14
Jack Dodds (8)	15
-	16
-	17

Woods second string continued on their travels on Saturday with an away day at Hampton & Richmond. The hosts were still chasing runners-up spot in the Suburban League Premier Division. The first half began with a very aggressive start by Hampton, and they also had a long throw expert who was hurtling the ball like a missile. To say that Northwood were shell-shocked is an understatement, added to the fact that the officials were playing to a different set of rules than anyone else!

Two early chances taken by Hampton were dubious, to say the least, and Woods were under the cosh. Reece Fallon, the young Northwood full-back, fell injured to a freak accident when he seemed to catch his knee in a divot. This accident was further compounded when new signing Jon Aklay also went down injured, and the Woods were reeling. The reshuffle to the visitors’ back four disjointed the side further, and a mix-up between the Woods goal minder, who was involved in a incident and the Hampton striker went down and a penalty was awarded instead of a free kick to the Woods. Nobody in the ground could believe what was going on, but the Hampton manager seemed to influence the officials in the Woods favour to prevent the goalie being booked or sent off.

The penalty was converted and a fourth was added just before the break for a woeful first half for the Woods. Damage limitation was the message to the young side, and this seemed to stir up the lads and the second period was much more even, and the Woods contested well and fought hard for their pride. A mix-up between Pat Lawrence and Jamie Lindsay allowed the hosts the go nap, and the 5-0 loss was not much more than the Woods deserved.

However the people in uniform did not help, and the second half was a marked improvement. Woods again relied on skipper Jamie Lindsay and a few chances made by the Woods were wasted. Onwards to the last game of the season when the Woods travel once again this time to the coast at Eastleigh near Southampton – more mileage and an end to a very difficult season in this very competitive division.

Report: GEOFF FOSTER