Colliers Wood Res. 1  Northwood Res. 6

Saturday 20th April 2013

NORTHWOOD RESERVES		Suburban League Premier B Division
		At Northwood Park
Team line-up
1	Garry Malone
2	Theo Hunte
3	Matt Cooper
4	Corey Ellis
5	Alex Ishola (69m)
6	Jarrad Engelbrecht
7	Adam Zaberosa
8	Adam El Haddad
9	Hisham El Haddad (62m)
10	Romaine Walker
11	Ken Obeng (65m)
Substitutes
12	Rocky Baptiste (62m)
14	Eric Nyarko
15	Lewis Davis
16	Myles Tang (65m)
17	Ahmed Mahfooz(69m)

The first twenty minutes of the half was a pretty even affair with both teams trying to settle in to the game and find their rhythm and shape on a dry and bumpy pitch. Jarrad Engelbrecht came close to opening the scoring in the 8th minute after a neat one-two with Romaine Walker just inside the penalty area.

Unfortunately the ball bobbled just before Engelbrecht struck his shot and it ended up an easy opening save for the Colliers keeper. Sixty seconds later Theo Hunte made a surging run down the right wing before crossing the ball into Hisham El Haddad who volleyed into the keepers arms for another comfortable save. Walker made another weaving run in the eleventh minute skipping past a couple of defenders before shooting from a tight angle on the edge of the six yard box into the side netting.

Northwood were definitely carving out the best chances in the opening quarter and came close again when a well worked 1-2 with H El Haddad found Walker in space just inside the penalty area. Walker’s curling shot was on target heading for the top right hand corner but was tipped over the bar for a corner by the Colliers keeper. From the resulting short corner Walker slipped into the Colliers penalty area before crossing deep to find Ken Obeng at the back post; Obeng nodded the ball back across the six yard box, but no-one was able to get contact with the ball so it went harmlessly wide for a goal kick. The subsequent goal kick was taken quickly and led to Colliers' first real attack in the 17th minute. Fortunately for Northwood the final shot sailed way over the bar for a goal kick. With so many early chances it seemed only a matter of time before Northwood would open the scoring.

Walker who was causing a lot of problems for the opposition defence; finally got his reward in the 22nd minute when he ran on to a through ball from mid field and shot from just inside the right corner of the penalty area. The ball looped over the keeper and hit the bar before dropping down into the net. It was one way traffic for the rest of the first half with Northwood launching one attack after another. With more composure in front of goal Woods could have added to the score in the 26th, 27th and 30th minutes when H El Haddad, Engelbrecht and Walker all had chances but were denied by some good defending from a resolute Colliers Defence.

Walker started and finished a smart counter attack in the 39th minute. Picking the ball up just outside the box; he fed the ball to H El Haddad who skipped past a couple of defenders before cutting the ball back across the six yard box for the waiting Walker to tap in for the Woods second goal of the afternoon. Sixty seconds later Walker saw another of his efforts on goal sail over the bar. However, he linked up a minute later with Engelbrecht who slotted the ball into his path on the edge of the six yard box and he calmly shot across the keeper into the far corner of the net for his and Northwood’s third goal.

Within a minute of the restart off Woods came close with a wonderful slick passing move between H El Haddad, Adam El Haddad and Walker which ended with the ball falling to Engelbrecht just outside the six yard box. His snap shot was well defended by the Colliers Wood captain and deflected wide for a corner. Five minutes later Hunte was fouled in the box and Northwood were awarded their first penalty of the afternoon. Adam Zaberosa stepped up and converted it smartly to make it 4-0 to Northwood. Two more chances in the 57th and 61st minutes; could have seen Northwood increase their lead; when H El Haddad’s shot from inside the penalty area went wide of the upright and Walkers snap shot from inside the eighteen yard box was comfortably saved by the keeper.

Errol Dyer and Roger Linton decided it was time to change things up; so they sent on the experienced striker Rocky Baptiste to make his debut, replacing H El Haddad in the 62nd minute. Northwood were dominating the game and should have scored again in the 63rd minute, when five players were in the box and had ample opportunity to score but were denied when they took too many needless touches in what seemed like an attempt to walk the ball over the line. Eventually they lost the ball in front of the goal and it was cleared by the Colliers defence.

Myles Tang came on in the 65th minute to replace Obeng. A minute later Garry Malone was called into action to make his first real save of the afternoon from a swift Colliers Wood counter attack. Dyer and Linton made their final change in the 69th minute, sending on Ahmed Mahfooz to replace Alex Ishola. Walker almost scored again in the eightieth minute when his shot near the penalty spot went just wide of the upright. Sixty seconds later Baptiste lost his marker, drove to the bye line before cutting back a neat ball to A El Haddad who smashed the ball home from three yards out to make it 5-0. Colliers Wood scored a much deserved consolation goal for all their efforts in the 85th minute; when the Northwood defence failed to clear the ball from a long range free kick and it was tapped in at the back post by the Colliers striker. With time running out, Walker was scythed down in the box for another penalty. Zaberosa stepped up again and slotted the spot kick into the corner to make it 6-1 to Northwood.

Although Northwood won the game in the end quite comfortably, Colliers Wood battled hard for the full ninety minutes and did themselves and their club proud with a gritty and determined performance with only ten men. Stand out performance from Romaine Walker.