A host of missed chances meant the Woods had to settle for just a point from this first meeting of the season against Potters Bar. Mark Burgess named an unchanged side from that which had battled to an excellent 3-1 defeat of Royston Town on Saturday, with the addition of previously unavailable Jerome Federico on the bench being the only change to the squad.

Within a minute Michael Murray had played Karl Oliyide into the box with his back to goal but his shot on the turn lacked power and the game progressed at a fast pace on a bumpy pitch that was still soft in places. After 11 minutes, Craig White won a ball in midfield and ran forward to slip the ball to Oliyide but this time though his shot was struck well it flew wide of the near post. A minute later it was Joakim Ehui who made ground and he played a good ball across for George Nicholas to poke a shot past goalkeeper Mike Underwood but also wide of the far post.

The home side lost midfielder Tom Laxton to an injury almost immediately but they then started to make inroads up front themselves with Josh Hutchinson forcing Berkley Laurencin into his first action after 16 minutes, saving comfortably. However, just two minutes later a long diagonal ball found James Ewington in space and he hit a first time strike that hit Steve Brown to deflect and give Laurencin no chance.

The Scholars gained in confidence from their fortune and almost scored a second ten minutes later as Laurencin blocked well from another Ewington effort with Hutchinson putting the rebound over the top.
On 32 minutes the Woods should have been level as Murray slipped a neat ball for Oliyide to run through again. He took the ball past the diving keeper and looked sure to score but though he avoided the covering defender he also rolled his shot past the far post. Three minutes later and the move was repeated with Murray again the supplier and Oliyide the recipient, but this time Underwood was out smartly and he took the ball off his foot as he shaped to shoot.

There was one more effort on goal before the break and this time a Nicholas header gave Oliyide a chance with his head but Cole Penny did well to get in front of him and clear the danger. It seemed that every chance was falling to the Woods young attacker Oliyide and sure enough just three minutes after the break Dave Lawrence found him again with a good ball in but this time he fired a shot wide.

The equaliser should have arrived after 61 minutes when some excellent approach work saw Nicholas play a ball wide to Ehui and when his cross came in, Murray failed to connect and then Lawrence spooned his volley straight up into the arms of the grateful keeper. It seemed as if a goal would never come, but it did just three minutes later when a good attacking run from White saw the ball run loose in the box and this time Oliyide latched onto it and stroked it into the top corner.

With twenty minutes to go, top scorer Niko Muir was brought on for Murray but it was the home side that suddenly looked more dangerous again. A quick break saw Hutchinson slip the ball inside to Ewington, whose first-time volley had Laurencin stretching to push the ball over the top. Two minutes later Evandro Delgado sped past a rash tackle from Oliver Sprague but then wasted the chance by shooting into the side-netting.

The speedy Tobi Akinjirrin had caused a few problems with his tricky running but his finishing wasn’t good enough as he shot wide after 85 minutes, the final chance for Bar.

The Woods had the better of the closing stages as they pushed for a winner. First Lawrence was put through for a one-on-one but again Underwood came out best as he raced out to claim at his feet. Then Lawrence’s attacking burst earned a free-kick just outside the box. He took the kick himself but screwed his shot horribly wide of the target and the final whistle left the scores still level.