Binfield 6 Northwood 3
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Thursday 18th April 2024
| NORTHWOOD | |||
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| 1 | Andrew McCorkell | ||
| 2 | Harry McKenna | ||
| 3 | Sam Jenkins | ||
| 4 | Carl Stewart (46m) | ||
| 5 | Luke Tingey © | ||
| 6 | Stephan Langley | ||
| 7 | Deago Dunbar-Bonnie | ||
| 8 | Harry McCorkell (68m) | ||
| 9 | Lucas Sinclair  |
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| 10 | Godlove Oppong (68m) | ||
| 11 | Kofi Anokye-Boadi | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Archie James (68m) | ||
| 14 | Dan Williams | ||
| 15 | Harry Gallagher | ||
| 16 | Teddy Stacey (46m) | ||
| 17 | Jeremy Stewart (68m) | ||
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Northwood’s wretched away form continued on this rare Thursday night outing into Berkshire as they finally played their game at relegation-haunted Binfield at the fifth attempt following a series of postponements.
In the meantime, their opponents had found a rich vein of form, several excellent wins giving them a real chance of avoiding the drop and a glut of goals meaning that the Moles went into this crucial match having scored nineteen in their past six matches; the most in the division.
The Woods were still missing top scorer Dan Williams, not yet fully fit to return, but they did welcome back both Harry McCorkell after injury and Deago Dunbar-Bonnie who missed the weekend’s game against South Park through suspension.
Apart from one through-ball that Carl Stewart went close to getting on the end of, it was Binfield that enjoyed the better of the early exchanges and they took the lead as early as the ninth minute when a cross from the right picked out an unmarked Tyler D’Cruz who headed firmly past Andrew McCorkell.
Just six minutes later, Harry McKenna was penalised for a foul just outside the area and Mitch Parker hit a free-kick that bounced awkwardly in front of the Woods goalkeeper and flew over him and into the net to double the Moles lead.
It was a pretty awful start for Northwood but they were back in the game just two minutes later as Luke Tingey’s long-throw was headed on and Kofi Anokye-Boadi headed over goalkeeper Killian Barrett to reduce the home side’s advantage.
It spurred on the Woods and after 18 minutes Stewart made another good run forward down the right, knocked in a fine cross which was met by the returning Lucas Sinclair but his flicked effort was well saved by Barrett. Almost immediately, Anokye-Boadi cut in from the left and found space for a shot which curled only just wide of the far post.
It was a really open game but on 23 minutes another good move from the visitors saw McKenna slip a ball to Sinclair inside the box and he was taken down by Barrett as the keeper looked to intercept. The Referee pointed to the spot but Stewart saw his penalty saved by Barrett, diving to his right. The ball rebounded out where Anokye-Boadi was quickly onto it but again Barrett recovered to push his effort against the post. The ball rebounded again onto the Woods goalscorer and into the net, only for handball to be given as the goal was ruled out.
Binfield were next to go close as Luke Wayborn got in a powerful header from a free-kick and though the ball was cleared off the line, the Moles continued to look dangerous going forward. They were rewarded again on 39 minutes as D’Cruz met another cross from the right with a solid header which McCorkell managed to block at point-blank range. The striker reacted quickest to hook the loose ball home before any reaction from the Woods defence.
And the Moles were jubilant when they added a fourth, two minutes into stoppage-time of the first half. Again, the approach work came down the right via Parker and Rahzir Smith-Jones but this time it was a low cross into the box which was flicked home by Connor Holland.
Teddy Stacey replaced an injured Carl Stewart at half-time for what was always going to be a tall order for the Woods but the home side remained in charge at the start. Wayborn had a chance but skied his effort before they notched a fifth on 57 minutes when substitute Tone Kusel-Gabriel scored with almost his first touch as his shot took a huge deflection and looped over McCorkell.
Only now did Northwood start a rally. Barrett pushed a dangerous cross away bit straight into the path of Harry McCorkell who had most of the goal to aim at but sliced his effort well wide of the target. After 64 minutes, Sinclair did well to get a cross in from the left and Anokye-Boadi went close with a good flick which was just the wrong side of the post.
Four minutes later there was a double-substitution as Archie James and Jeremy Stewart were introduced and the Woods continued to push for some success. After 73 minutes Dunbar-Bonnie got on the end of a sweeping move across the face of goal with a goal-bound effort but Barrett did well to leap to his left and push the ball wide.
Northwood should have scored again three minutes later when defender Daniel Lewis left an attempted back-pass short and Anokye-Boadi nipped in to take it across the keeper. The goal was gaping but he delayed his shot too long and Barrett got back to save his effort.
Two minutes later, the Woods did finally have the ball in the net as James was quickly onto a through-ball and he rolled it neatly past the ‘keeper only for another strike to be ruled out, this time for a tight offside decision.
The second goal for the visitors finally came after 83 minutes when McKenna again got forward well down the right and centred for Anokye-Boadi to finally flick home his second of the game. And it was another five minutes later that the hard-working Anokye-Boadi was brought down in the box for another penalty award. This time it was Anokye-Boadi that was given the opportunity of completing a deserved hat-trick from the spot and he made no mistake.
Within a minute, the Woods won a corner and if they had scored, it would have been a nervous period of stoppage-time for the Moles. Sinclair rose high to meet the ball as it swung in but he could only head it goalwards and Barrett claimed it safely.
There was five minutes of added time and in the fourth of them, Binfield broke quickly and substitute Ethan Lindo neatly tucked a cross to complete the extraordinary 6-3 scoreline. The win lifted his side above struggling Chipstead and out of the bottom two for the first time since the third match of the season with two home games to play.
A few stats for those that like that sort of thing: It was the first time that the Woods had conceded six in a game under current management and the game brought an aggregate score of nine goals for the first time since Northwood’s 8-1 defeat of Staines Town back in April 2022. The last 6-3 scoreline in a Northwood game came back in October 2016 when an FA Trophy game away at Dorking Wanderers went the way of the Woods. In the League, the last 6-3 result was back in January 2007 when Cirencester Town defeated Northwood by that margin in a Southern Premier Division fixture.
REPORT by Alan Evans
