Northwood 1 Chertsey Town 4
Saturday 2nd April 2022
NORTHWOOD | |||
1 | Daniel Purdue | ||
2 | Jesse Boateng | ||
3 | Andy Lomas | ||
4 | Keagan Cole © | ||
5 | Luke Tingey | ||
6 | James Gurteen | ||
7 | Ryan Young (61m) | ||
8 | Matt Surmon (75m) | ||
9 | Josh Helmore (75m) | ||
10 | Sydney Ibie | ||
11 | Carl Stewart | ||
Substitutes | |||
12 | Kyal Williams (61m) | ||
14 | Will Robinson (75m) | ||
15 | Lewis Batten | ||
16 | Sam Cahill | ||
17 | Kristian Belousas (75m) | ||
|
Woods suffered their first home league defeat of the year as they were comfortably beaten by second placed Chertsey Town who consolidated their position in the play-off race.
There were a couple of changes from the team which started the previous week’s win at Ashford Town, Jesse Boateng coming into defence for his first start with Keagan Cole switching to the holding midfield role, while Matt Surmon came in for midfielder Riccardo Alexander-Greenaway who had been recalled by parent club Hendon and Kyal Williams dropped to the bench.
In front of a bumper crowd, the Curfews were swiftly out of the blocks with Jake Baxter testing keeper Daniel Purdue with an early shot on target. But the first goal was not long in arriving as Northwood failed to adequately clear a long throw into their box and Baxter fired in a low shot which deflected in off the upright to give the visitors the lead on 11 minutes.
The Curfews proceeded to pin Woods back as they looked to increase their lead and created a series of chances – Gary Abisogun and Andy Crossley shooting wide while Purdue brought off a couple of saves with his legs to deny Andy Crossley and Sam Murphy.
Northwood had up to that point failed to get any sort of foothold in the contest. However, Woods finally managed to break out with a well-constructed move which resulted in an equalising goal on 35 minutes, Carl Stewart exchanging passes with Josh Helmore before executing a neat finish for his first goal in Northwood colours.
But Woods joy was short-lived as Chertsey regained the lead after 38 minutes with a piledriver from Manolis Gogonos as he perfectly met a loose ball on the run to give Purdue no chance from just outside the box. The Curfews threatened further goals before the break, the dangerous Absiogun and Didi Ndombe firing over while Darryl Harrison sent a header narrowly wide following another corner.
Northwood stood firm and came out after the break with a tweak to the formation as they switched to a 4-4-2 with Boeteng and Andy Lomas moving into the right and left-back positions respectively. And the switch seemed to have the desired effect as Woods began to enjoy a greater share of the possession and they had an opportunity to regain parity as Ryan Young’s ball found Stewart in a good postion but his shot into the ground was comfortably gathered by keeper Nick Jupp.
Photos by JAMES BROWN
But the wind was taken out of Northwood’s sails as the Curfews immediately broke downfield and sliced through the heart of the home defence allowing Baxter to grab his second of the afternoon just before the hour mark.
Woods made their first change on 61 minutes as Williams was introduced for Young in a bid to increase their attacking options. And the substitute was quickly into the game as he met Cole’s free kick at the far post with his shot deflecting off the post.
Williams continued to feature with a couple of probing runs and Boeteng was the next to go close as his near post shot was scrambled behind by the Chertsey defence.
The Curfews remained a threat on the break, one attack resulting in a deflected free kick on the edge of the box which Purdue did well to divert past the post before substitute Bryan Taylor went close with another effort.
Woods made a double substitution on 75 minutes as Helmore and Surmon were replaced by attackers Will Robinson and Kristian Belousas. But the contest was finally put to bed as Abisogun fired home the visitors fourth goal of the afternoon with eight minutes left on the clock.
Northwood continued to search for a goal to reward their improved second half showing, a Cole shot on the turn, following good work from Belousas, being gathered by Jupp. However, it wasn’t to be with Baxter spurning a glorious chance to seal a hat trick with a glaring miss before the end but the Curfews had done enough to almost guarantee their place in the end of season play-offs.
Report by ROBIN PIPER