Burnham 1  Northwood 0

Tuesday 22nd September 2020

NORTHWOOD
1	Hafed Al-Droubi
2	Luke Jones
3	Jaden Sharman
4	Craig Carby
5	Dave Thomas (c)
6	Diogo Santana Da Silva
7	Denerson Fernandes Moreira
8	Marcelo Graca (71m)
9	Richard Ward (55m)
10	Lucas Toti
11	George Isaac (77m)
Substitutes
12	Calvin Dickson
14	Charlie Kuehn
15	Ryan Phillips
16	Devonte Totesaut (71m)
17	Aaron Morgan (55m)
16	Baback Dehghani (77m)
17	David Castanho

Northwood’s interest in the F.A. Cup ended for another year after they succumbed to a solitary goal defeat by conceding a harshly awarded penalty kick early in the tie against Hellenic Premier Burnham.

Manager Rob Ursell opted for a numbe rof changes following the opening day league defeat at Westfield.  Luke Jones replaced Ryan Esprit at right-back while there was a debut for Denerson Moreira on the right wing in place of Calvin Dickson. There was also a change in midfield with Diogo Da Silva coming in for Charlie Kuehn while Lucas Toti was moved forward into the central attacking role with Richard Ward slotting in behind.

Following a steady start to proceedings, the game suddenly spung into life when former Wood Ryan Tackley’s free-kick from fully 35-yards crashed off the woodwork and the ensuing scramble led to Burnham being awarded a penalty as the ball hit Jaden Sharman’s slightly raised arm with the Northwood youngster’s back turned. Gavin James stepped up to make no mistake with the spot-kick to give his side a 12th minute lead.

Woods spurned a couple of glorious chances to restore parity. Firstly a quick break lead to Toti finding George Isaac whose blocked shot fell to Graca in a good position but he blazed his shot over the bar. And Graca had another gilt-edged opportunity after Moreira’s cross was flicked on by Ward into his path but he lifted the ball over the crossbar with only goalkeeper Carl Dennison to beat.

Both keepers were called into action as play switched from end to end. Northwood keeper Hafed Al-Droubi had to be at his best to keep out Joe Blount’s low free-kick before Burnham’s Dennison produced a full-length save to keep out Isaac’s 25-yard effort.

Northwood proceeded to enjoy their fair share of the ball for the remainder of the half but were being kept at an arm’s length by a hard working Burnham who restricted the visitors to shots from Jones and Isaac which failed to trouble Dennison.

Woods continued in a similar vein after the break with the quality of the final ball sadly lacking and they made a change up top on 55 minutes with Richard Ward making way for Aaron Morgan who moved into the central striker’s berth with Toti tucking in behind.

Both sides were struggling to make much of an impression in the final third although Northwood went close as Dennison pulled off another superb save to deflect Gracas’ rasping first time shot while at the other end, a jinking run from James should have been capped with a second goal but the striker dragged his shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

Gracas made way for striker Devonte Totesaut on 70 minutes as Northwood searched for the equaliser. But Woods they were grateful for more athleticism from Al-Droubi as he saved an effort from Blount before keeping out Luke Fanstone’s point-blank header.

Isaac made way for debutant substitute Baback Deghani and in the increasingly frantic closing stages, Northwood forced a series of corners that sadly failed to seriously threaten an equaliser. However, with tie into the fourth minute of added time and the home crowd baying for the final whistle, Totesaut looked to be tripped in the box as he latched onto Morgan’s pass but the penalty appeals were waved away and with it Woods F.A. Cup hopes as they made their customary early exit from the competition.

REPORT by Robin Piper
PHOTOS by James Brown