Saturday 28th December 1974
CARRY ON CHRISTMAS, NORTHWOOD STYLE
NORTH GREENFORD UNITED 4 NORTHWOOD 3
Northwood continued the season of goodwill on Saturday when they gifted North Greenford the two Middlesex League points. The Woods were well below full strength, but still the players on show should have easily beaten a weak North Greenford side.
This was possibly Northwood’s worst display of the season. The attack missed chances galore, while the defence handed the home side four goals they didn’t have to work for.
In the first half Northwood were just the better of two bad sides, and it was a question of which defence was going to concede the most goals, and which attack was capable of taking the chances.
Northwood took the lead from the penalty spot through Stone, but an incredible mistake by Gould allowed North Greenford to equalise within two minutes. Despite having the wind against them in the first half Northwood still had the territorial advantage and this made their second half performance even more mystifying.
The Woods regained the lead when Dibbens harried the cumbersome North Greenford centre-half, and Roche seized on the chance to score his first goal of the season.
Northwood’s second act of charity came from a home side corner. North Greenford’s Snell came into the box, and despite repeated calls to mark him, he was left completely free to head home.
Next it was North Greenford’s turn to give away a soft goal as their right-back neatly headed Robin Tidd’s corner into his own net.
It was Snell again who was allowed in for a free header to score North Greenford’s equaliser, and then with five minutes to go the Woods’ defence stood still, allowing Farrell to get through and score the winner.
Northwood: Kessell, Harman, Gould, Hester, Mills, Pearce, Tidd, Roberts, Stone, Dibbens, A. Roche, sub. N. Roche.
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