Northwood 1 Ashford Town Mx 3
Tuesday 23rd August 2022
| NORTHWOOD | |||
 |
|||
| 1 | Andrew McCorkell | ||
| 2 | Brandon Kalu | ||
| 3 | Andy Lomas | ||
| 4 | Luke Tingey  |
||
| 5 | James Budden | ||
| 6 | Harry Gallagher | ||
| 7 | David Taylor (62m) | ||
| 8 | Keagan Cole © (62m) | ||
| 9 | Josh Helmore (71m) | ||
| 10 | Sydney Ibie |
||
| 11 | Carl Stewart | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Ergys Pepaj (62m) |
||
| 14 | Lindell Stewart (71m) | ||
| 15 | Riccardo Alexander-Greenaway | ||
| 16 | James Gurteen | ||
| 17 | Nebay Haile | ||
| 18 | Dan Daggett | ||
| 19 | Ronan Hutchins (62m) | ||
|
|||
Northwood’s Emirates FA Cup dreams were dashed for another year as they suffered a replay defeat at the hands of their Middlesex rivals on a disappointing evening at The Skyline Roofing Stadium.
Injuries continue to play havoc with Ben Bukowski’s squad; Riccardo Alexander-Greenaway not deemed fit enough to start with David Taylor coming in to partner Carl Stewart in midfield while Brandon Kalu filled in at right wing-back in the continued absence of Sam Jenkins. There were changes to the back three with Harry Gallagher lining up alongside James Budden and Luke Tingey, as James Gurteen reverted to the bench while Keagan Cole vacated his sweeper role to play off a 
front two of Josh Helmore and Sydney Ibie, with Lindell Stewart making way.
The game began in a similar fashion to Saturday’s encounter with Ashford making the early running as they forced a couple of early corners, Ricky Johnson seeing his shot blocked by the Northwood defence before goalkeeper Andrew McCorkell was called into action to deal with a Lewis Flatman header following good work from the lively Danyaal Iqbal.
Woods gradually began to find some attacking rhythm and Ibie was somewhat harshly yellow-carded for simulation as went down as he was challenged in the Tangerines’ box. And Northwood had a wonderful opportunity to open the scoring as Cole retrieved Tingey’s cross-field pass to square the ball to Taylor who unfortunately skied his close-range shot.
Northwood continued to press, with Ibie making good progress down Woods’ right-hand channel before sending over a deep cross which was met first time by Andy Lomas with his shot hitting the side-netting. And the home side went close again when Kalu slid a pass through to Helmore who was denied by the legs of visiting keeper Fred Chapman.
Play was now flowing from end to end; Johnson’s skidding shot from distance being turned behind by McCorkell with Dale Burnham unable to get any purchase on a free header from the resulting corner, while at the other end, Lomas had another shot which cleared the crossbar after more good work from Ibie. And the Northwood pair combined again as Ibie’s ball flew across the face of the Tangerines’ goal with Lomas agonisingly close to applying the finishing touch.
Photos by JAMES BROWN
Iqbal was proving to be a constant threat and another jinking run almost paid dividends for the visitors, but his shot was charged down in the Northwood box. And it was Ashford who got their noses in front on 33 minutes as Flatman was gifted the ball before spotting McCorkell slightly out of position and firing in a low shot from fully 30 yards which flew inside the upright.
Woods looked to get back into the tie before the break, Ibie firing over from the edge of the box before a neat interchange with Helmore ended with Ibie’s low shot narrowly clearing the far post. And in between, Gallagher advanced from the back to try his luck with a long-range attempt which cleared the crossbar.
The second period was slow to ignite before Ashford extended their lead on 53 minutes as Wayne Ridgley was allowed to advance before unleashing a long-range screamer which gave McCorkell no chance as it flew into the top corner.
Woods made a double substitution just after the hour-mark as they looked to retrieve the situation, Ergys Pepaj and Ronan Hutchins being introduced for Taylor and Cole. And the changes seemed to have the desired effect as Northwood began to play with an increased tempo as they forced a couple of corners, Budden sending a header wide before Pepaj drew a flying save out of Chapman. And the Woods substitute was involved again as he saw his shot deflected wide.
However, any hopes of a Northwood revival appeared to be extinguished as Flatman scored his second of the evening as he flicked the ball over McCorkell to give the Tangerines a three-goal lead with 70 minutes gone.
Woods made another change as Lindell Stewart replaced Helmore in attack and they gave themselves a lifeline on 77 minutes as they pulled a goal back through Ibie as his deflected shot deflected over Chapman after a neat through-ball from Carl Stewart.
Northwood strived for further goals, with a Kalu ball flying across the six-yard box with no red shirt in the vicinity before a hooked effort from Lindell Stewart flew the wrong side of the post.
With Woods’ battle to extend their run in this season’s FA Cup game almost over, they nearly suffered further agony with the last kick of the evening as McCorkell was dispossessed by Flatman, the Northwood keeper retrieving the situation to deny the Ashford striker a hat-trick.
Report by ROBIN PIPER
