Northwood Res. 3  Wealdstone Res. 0

Tuesday 18th August 2009

Northwood Res.		Suburban Premier Chestnut Avenue, Northwood
Aaron Bufton	1	Kick Off
Danny Power	2	7.45 p.m.
Paul Spicer	3	H/T
Elliott Gibbs	4	0-0
Sam Phillips	5	Scorers
Will Hudson	6	Northwood
Lee Holland (Capt.)	7	Sharples 72, Holland 81, Lawrence 89
Sam Sharples	8
Patrick Lawrence	9
Courtney Francis	10	Wealdstone
Laurie Walters	11	n/a
Substitutes
Scott Purdue (10)	12
Mark Britt	14
Leslie Murenze (11)	15
Max Moore (83)	16
	17

After a creditable draw at Met Police on Saturday, the Reserves came up against local rivals Wealdstone on Tuesday evening and ran out victors with a 3-0 result. There were a lot of positives for  the manager to take from this performance, particularly the second half.

The first half was evenly contested and Wealdstone probably had the better of the exchanges: Dan Lake looked a good young player from the Stones midfield.

The second half, however, was mainly the Woods attacking, and after 65 minutes Laurie Walters had a good chance to put Northwood in front, but his shot lacked pace and a defender got back to hack clear. Leslie Murenze replaced Laurie five minutes later, and looked a promising player.

After 75 minutes the Woods got the all important first goal. Will Hudson sent Courtney Francis through on goal only to be brought down by the keeper, who somehow retained his place, without even a booking. Sam Sharples, who had a good game, stepped up, and the keeper saved , but Sam reached the rebound to fire home.

On 85 minutes a great cross from Sam Sharples was headed home by skipper Lee Holland, another who gave a very good performance. Then in the closing minute Scott Purdue won a decisive tackle twenty yards outside the Stones box, and the ball broke to Leslie Murenze, who crossed to Patrick Lawrence, who finished off the scoring.

All in all a very encouraging start to the season. Man of the Match: Paul Spicer.

Report: ALLAN GREEN.