Hemel Hempstead Res. 1  Northwood Res. 1

Wednesday 9th February 2011

Northwood Res.		Suburban League Vauxhall Road, Hemel Hempstead
Ben Dowsett	1	Kick Off
Ed Hatcher	2	7.45 p.m.
Dominic Franklin	3	H/T
Jamie Lindsey	4	1-0
Jordan Gutteridge	5	Scorers
Timi Salako	6	Northwood
Massih Mirzai	7	Desagurante
Johanan Adjei-Dankins	8
Laurie Walters	9
Matt Andrews	10
Dujon Desagurante	11
Tyler Clark (10)	12
Youcef Ouyahia (9)	14
-	15
-	16
-	17

Northwood took a very young side to Hemel Hempstead for this Suburban League fixture on Wednesday. With players working and injuries plus the under 18s playing the next night, it was all hands to the pumps.

Hemel’s team included Woods ex-custodian Mitch Swain, and the fact that they had a chance to play six subs meant the place was pretty crowded.

The game started off with the opposition pressing but Woods’ back four looked strong and capable, and after approximately 10 minutes Woods started stringing some passes together, and the game was then end to end. The Woods back line saw Jamie Lindsay up for the challenge and leading by example. He was well supported by Dominic Franklin and Ed Hatcher on either flank.

The game swung in Woods favour when shortly after a chance went begging when Laurie Walters missed the target, good play from Massih Mirzai and Timi Salako in midfield resulted into a goalmouth scramble, which Dujon converted to give the Woods the lead. At this stage the Woods were contesting every ball all over the pitch and the game was very tight, with neither having complete control.

The second half began as you might expect, with Hemel hungry for the equaliser, and they placed the Woods defence  under the cosh for long periods. Ben Dowsett made a couple of fine saves and the home side also hit the post. It was not a real surprise when they equalised when a Hemel midfielder struck a good shot from well outside the box to score.

The Woods could have gone under then, but with Jamie and Dominic trying to get up to support the midfield, they started to get back into the game. Matt Andrews had a great chance, and then Tyler Clark just failed to get on to a fine move down the left hand side. Jordan Gutteridge had a difficult strong striker to mark and was competing really well against him.

All 13 players were doing their bit and the Woods’ effort alone deserved a point and it was pleasing to see how much that they had all put in. Next Saturday’s big Suburban League Cup tie against Woking at their place should be fun!
   

Report by GEOFF FOSTER