Northwood slipped to their sixth successive defeat as play-off hopefuls Chalfont St. Peter notched a comfortable victory with two early goals in the second half.

Acting manager Gordon Boateng made just one change from the side that had so unluckily fallen to defeat against title-chasing Beaconsfield Town, with Harry Newman replacing Joe Russell who was serving his one-game suspension as a result of his dismissal in that game.

The game at Mill Meadow was one of only three in the division that survived the previous two days’ deluge from the skies and the pitch benefitted from a good covering of grass above the soft, muddy conditions.

Very little happened in the early stages with both sides struggling to put together any flowing moves of note and it was littered with too many miscued passes. Finally it was the Woods who managed the first effort on goal after 18 minutes as Jermaine Osei broke clear and cut the ball back for Meshach Williams whose effort was deflected wide.

The home side took until the half-hour mark for them to fashion a similar chance as Victor Osobu did well to get the ball across the box. Jake Cass got to the loose ball but his strike was blocked by several defenders all working to protect the goal.

There was a blow for Northwood after 34 minutes when they lost Keir Dickson to an early injury and he was replaced by Temiloluwa Oladeji for his Woods debut as a substitute. He was quickly under pressure from the lively Osobu who cut in from the right but again his cross-shot towards the near post was well blocked and former Woods midfielder Louis Stead sent the rebound wide of the target.

Evans Kousassi was struggling to make any impact on the surface but did manage a shot at goal on 38 minutes as he spun on a loose ball but it flew just wide before the Saints lost top scorer Cass to injury immediately before the half-time break; being replaced by former Aylesbury striker Brian Haule. Both sides had defended pretty well.

So, still all to play for when the second half got underway, though Nebay Haile, who had got little joy for his industry in the first period, was replaced by Paolo Montella. The Woods were very slow off the blocks and the game was soon all over.

After 50 minutes a long ball picked out Stead who struck a first-time shot that drifted wide of Xavi Comas’s goal. But just a minute later Comas was forced into a good save to deny another strike from Stead and this time substitute Haule pounced. Comas managed to block his first effort from close range but it fell kindly again to the experienced striker and he forced the ball over the line.

Once again, having conceded a goal, the Woods quickly conceded a second to give themselves a mountain to climb. It was a well-worked effort with Alex Paine doing the hard work down the right before pulling a neat ball back to the edge of the box where Ryan Haugh powered it home to give Comas no chance.

The Saints defence had little difficulty keeping Northwood at bay though Williams did find space to record their first shot on target after 62 minutes with ‘keeper Carl Dennison saving comfortably.

And it was only in stoppage-time that there was anything else to write about as a good ball put Williams through on goal. He hit the ball powerfully but it sailed well over the crossbar so not even a consolation for the Woods who have now failed to score in four of their last five matches. 

It doesn’t get any easier this week for Northwood either as next up is a home game against league leaders and title-favourites AFC Rushden & Diamonds. The Woods will need to be working hard to turn things around.