Northwood 1 Aylesbury United 3
Saturday 4th August 2018
| NORTHWOOD | |||
 |
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| 1 | Coalan Doyle | ||
| 2 | Sam Jenkins (46m) | ||
| 3 | Matt Cooper (60m) | ||
| 4 | Cameron Ferguson | ||
| 5 | Ben Andreos (68m) | ||
| 6 | Carl Pearce (52m) | ||
| 7 | Jerome Slew | ||
| 8 | Hakim Nyariki (50m) | ||
| 9 | Ben Pattie (50m) | ||
| 10 | James Ewington (68m) | ||
| 11 | Emmanuel Melford-Rowe (68m) | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Kweku Conrad-Lucan (50m) | ||
| 14 | Charlie Morgan (52m) | ||
| 15 | Karl Stevenson (46m) | ||
| 16 | Rhys Shirley-Clarke (68m) | ||
| 17 | Bradley Marriott (66m) | ||
| 18 | Wilson Chingoka (50m) | ||
| 19 | George Turner (60m) | ||
| 20 | Adam Murad (68m) | ||
Northwood stepped up their pre-season preparations as they pitted themselves against fellow step 4 opponents for the first time.
Injuries forced manager Dean Barker to make changes with 17 year old goalkeeper Coalan Doyle-Creamer deputising for the injured Luke Sheldrick, while Hakim Nyariki was given a first start in midfield as a replacement for the Chris Gosling.
Woods were quickly into their stride with Callum Ferguson rattling the woodwork with a 25 yard effort before James Ewington intercepted an attempted back-pass but the angle was too tight as he shot into the side-netting.
And it was no surprise as Northwood took the lead on nine minutes when Ben Pattie latched onto Emmanuel Melford-Rowe's floated ball into the box to calmly roll the ball past keeper Paul Varnica for his seventh pre-season goal.
However, the lead lasted less than a minute as the Ducks punished some slack defending with Gary Jones heading home the equaliser.
Woods continued to carry an attacking threat with Pattie trying his luck with a couple of long range efforts while Melford-Rowe dragged his shot wide following a strong run the United box.
At the other end, Doyle-Creamer had to deal with a shot from Harry Jones while Aaron Berry might have done better after being afforded a free header.
The play proceeded to flow from end to end for the remainder of an entertaining opening period; Pattie, Ben Andreos and Jerome Slew having opportunities for the hosts while Doyle-Creamer was on hand to deny Harry Jones.
Having finished the opening period on the front foot, Woods would have been hoping to kick on after the restart. However, three minutes into the second half, Woods' defence allowed Jamie Keen time and space to pick his spot and put the Ducks ahead.
Northwood proceeded to create a plethora of chances as they looked to get back into the game with Pattie, Ewington and Andreos all going close.
There were the customary substitutions as Barker looked to give the whole squad a run out, which included a first appearance for George Turner, who slotted in at left-back. But any hopes Woods had of getting back into the game were further damaged as Berry converted a 64th minute penalty after Ferguson was penalised.
To their credit, Northwood continued to threaten with some incisive attacking play, Kweku Conrad-Lucan being denied by a couple of smart saves. At the other end, Doyle-Creamer capped a fine debut with a couple of tremendous saves of his own.
However, it wasn't to be for Northwood, with plenty of positives on the attacking front but with defensive issues for manager Barker to reflect on with the league season only a week away.
REPORT by Robin Piper
PHOTOS by James Brown
