Northwood 0 South Park (Reigate) 3

Saturday 13th April 2024

NORTHWOOD




1	Andrew McCorkell
2	Harry McKenna
3	Carl Stewart
4	Teddy Stacey
5	Luke Tingey ©
6	Stephan Langley
7	Denzel Effah
8	Jeremy Stewart (86m)
9	Godlove Oppong (63m)
10	Julio Fresneda (63m)
11	Kofi Anokye-Boadi
Substitutes
12	Archie James (86m)
14	Lucas Sinclair (63m)
15	Keagan Cole
16	Sam Jenkins (63m)
17	Martin Flannery
	South Park: Danny Bracken, Mathias Tepe, Kelvin Manuel Massango, Tom Smith, William Grieveson (Daniel Pappoe 82m), Cerny Ando, Sam King, Craig McGee, Marco Haigh (Aiden Brown 74m). Brendan Murphy-McVey (Courtney Swaby 63m), Deondre Date

The Woods were looking for their third successive home league win when taking on South Park but instead, three late goals meant that they slipped to their heaviest home defeat in the league all season.

Northwood had top scorer Dan Williams ruled out with an injury picked up in the final seconds of their midweek trip to Met. Police and although Lucas Sinclair returned, it was only for a place on the bench.

Harry McCorkell and Harry Gallagher both remained injured while Deago Dunbar-Bonnie had to sit it out with suspension. It meant a first start for youngster Julio Fresneda up front and a home debut for Jeremy Stewart in midfield.

And the Woods made a bright enough start to the game in the sunshine with Godlove Oppong playing Fresneda into the box in the very first minute with his shot being blocked for a corner. From that, Kofi Anokye-Boadi headed on and goalkeeper Danny Bracken had to punch clear under pressure.

Conversely, the Sparks made a slow start, though young attacker Deondre Date had a shot from distance which was always going wide.

After 11 minutes, Harry McKenna got forward well and knocked in a tempting cross but Stephan Langley couldn’t quite get his head to it and then the match developed into a scrappy midfield battle with neither side getting fully to grips with the bumpy surface.

The lively Mathias Tepe whipped in a good cross from the right on 28 minutes but it eluded both attackers in the centre and then at the other end, Jeremy Stewart ball in fell to Oppong but his strike flew over the crossbar.

The Woods’ best chance came on 35 minutes when an excellent ball through from Carl Stewart gave Oppong a clear opportunity and he struck his shot well enough but Bracken made a fine save. Four minutes later McKenna shot from distance but again it was comfortable enough for the visitors' experienced keeper.

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PHOTOS by James Brown

Brendan Murphy-McVey did well to work some space for a shot after 39 minutes but that went wide of the near-post and the half came to an end just after Anokye-Boadi’s run from deep but it was the same again when he shot straight at Bracken.

Andrew McCorkell had been pretty much a spectator in the first half but he was forced into his first real action just two minutes after the restart as he blocked another effort from Date and then Craig McGee saw an effort fly wide of the post again.

The Woods hadn’t really made any impression after the break so a double substitution was made in the hope of an improvement as Sam Jenkins and Sinclair replaced Fresneda and Oppong closely followed by a break in play as the Referee needed some treatment on an injury.

After 72 minutes, the two subs combined as Jenkins knocked in a corner and Sinclair rose high to meet it but was unable to keep his header down.

Six minutes later, Luke Tingey slipped when trying to clear a ball, Sparks substitute Courtney Swaby quickly pounced and kept his composure well to fire past McCorkell and put his side in front.

Now the Woods were having to battle for a point and Denzel Effah started to make some inroads down the left but he had crosses either cleared or blocked and it was South Park who looked more dangerous on the break with another substitute Aiden Brown seeing a shot saved by McCorkell.

It was after 89 minutes that the Northwood defence was caught out on the break and Brown raced through with an easy finish to secure all three points for the Sparks. It then got worse just two minutes later as the defence went completely AWOL to allow Swaby to slot home his second.

REPORT by Alan Evans