U13 Boys have been on a bit of a wobbly run of late culminating in their early exit from the Middlesex County Cup last week, knocked out by a lower division team they'd beaten comfortably just a few months back. That's football sometimes and to break such runs, you first have to put in lots & lots of effort.
That was the watch word today as they took to the field away against Oakhill Tigers Sharks in the League and the lads certainly put in a mighty shift to secure a valuable point and start to move the wheel of fortune back in their favour.
Leading in this were Pop, Hones and MoM Hobbs, covering every inch of grass as they sought to move the team forward, the latter soaring through the air like a Borehamwood condor to plant his swede on a sweet Hones corner and send the ball arcing into the net!
Montgomery was lively on the right wing and narrowly missed out with a smart shot that was saved well by the home keeper but, further good opportunities were not siezed with conviction before the Wood blotted their copybook with the concession of a cheap goal that could've been defended better, a corner ball dropping uncontested into the danger area before being bundled home unceremoniously.
After dominating the match to find themselves still level at half time, the team were down but, not out and showed great spirit to seek a winner. Manning & Pop pushing the team forward from the centre and Crucefix looking dangerous out wide, supplying a super pass that Captain Ifeacho drove just wide of the upright. There was still time for Oswald to hammer a shot narrowly wide and for keeper Marshall to produce a world class save at the death when it seemed that Oakhill must surely score.
Well done to the boys for trying very hard and they head back to the training ground ready to hone their technical skills and build on this platform they constructed today with hard graft and desire.
U12 Boys meanwhile are riding the crest of a wave just now and the boys carried on from where they left off last week with some lovely football against Hinton & Finchley Hotshots in the League. Rocha was back out on pitch after his 2 games in goal and was straight back to what he does best, drifting pass players and scoring goals. He scored the first and second today with deadly finishes, Staszewski then cooly grabbing another to make it 3. Evans got the goal he's worked so hard for recently, finishing a rebound expertly after a great save by the keeper. 4 up at half time.
The back 5 when called upon were solid and were determined to keep the clean sheet. The passing football carried on in the second half but the boys seemed to be rushing their finishing slightly, then in the last 10 minutes the goals flowed once more, MoM Staszewski added 2 more to complete a genuinely devestating hat trick and Adoma got the goal he deserved after a great counter attack involving Delia, Adom & Staszewski. Three valuable points gained and the Wood head up the league table very nicely indeed!
Last but, not least were our U11 Boys who have been playing such good football of late. The boys suffered a bit today after an erratic refereeing performance but, it;s all good experience at this age. Looking forward to next week already!
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U18 Girls travelled away to face a physical Garston Jags team in HGFPL Division one today, with a really good squad numbering 15 girls.
Captained by the hard-running Umalin, the players were in excellent spirits, starting fast with Hodges unlucky not to score after a rasping shot following excellent build-up play from Warren, while Harry-Brown almost scored a worldy with a piledriver that missed by inches. After putting on a really good defensive display too, the Wood headed in 0-0 at half time,
Garston's number 8 enjoyed an outstanding game in centre midfield and despite their best efforts, the Wood struggled to keep her in check throughout. However, we did manage this well at the start of the second half leading to several chances the best of which saw Umalin produce a flying save from the home keeper. Makamian produced a sublime dribble and shot that narrowly missed the opposition stanchion while Hodges and Embleton both let fly with quality shots too.
The game was open and the Wood defence performed so well to hold Garston back throughout, with Steward and PoM Branigan particularly superb while ably supported by Turner, Warren and keeper Hyman, who was just unable to stop a vicious shot from the Garston wing finding our net.
This decided the match and that's how it goes sometimes, but, once again, the girls showed great courage, desire and togetherness to perform very highly on the day and produce a more than respectable result. Really well done to one and all.
Meanwhile, our U11 Girls played away to Stevanage Starlets today and had a very tense game against very strong opponents.
Key players Hazel, Kiella & Ella W were rested this week and Kara made her first start up front, getting her 1st goal of the season shortly after, a beautiful finish after excellent team play. The Wood’s incisive passing created good scoring positions many times thereafter but, great keeping stopped further goals at this time.
Emily was fantastic between the sticks throughout and kept Starlets at bay with many fine saves. Lucy patrolled midfield and stopped the opposition from influencing the game too much and was greatly helped in this by Elsie and Annie, who were both tenacious and very hard working.
Lois was causing havoc on the left wing and came close on numerous occasions before brilliantly setting up Theaya, who also opened her account for the season with a stunning finish that had the away support cooing in admiration.
Wood nearly got a third and Theaya’s second but were stopped by a super goal-saving tackle which embodied Starlets’ great spirit. In a super advert for girls’ football, Emily was proudly selected as POM by both teams. With Lottie and Romey running themselves into the ground supporting their teammates, it was a day to remember and another quality performance from the squad.