Flackwell Heath 1 Northwood 1

Tuesday 14th January 2025

NORTHWOOD




1	Hafad Al Droubi
2	Jack Empson
3	Junior Paiva
4	Manny Folarin
5	Balu Makumbi (46m)
6	Jack Smith (73m)
7	Harry McKenna
8	Troy Perez-Duah
9	Jack Timberlake (66m)
10	Hassan Jalloh (90+3m)
11	Joshua Williams (81m)
Substitutes
12	Aaron Benn (90+3m)
14	Samuel Folarin (81m)
15	Nnaemeka Anyanwu (46m)
16	Jon-Jo Bates (73m)
17	Alex Cathline (66m)

The Woods finally kicked off 2025 with a hard-fought and valuable point away at play-off seeking Flackwell Heath on Tuesday night on a misty and murky evening where the fog made viewing the match a little difficult.

There was a debut for Josh Williams up front, signed on dual-registration from Egham Town and a place on the bench for former Woods midfielder Jon-Jo Bates, coming out of a recent retirement to return to Northwood over ten years since his last appearance!

Flackwell, promoted as champions of the Combined Counties League last season, have had a tremendous first half of the season, losing just four games and just one, to leaders Berkhamsted, in their last ten matches. They were without inspirational captain Mark Nisbet but were able to welcome back the division’s top scorer Wiktor Makowski after a short spell at Rayners Lane and also Jethro Odumoso who has spent the season with Harrow Borough. Both were on the bench for this game.

After three minutes, the Heathens showed that perhaps they didn’t need that firepower though as they took the lead when Sean McGuinness was allowed a free header from a Matty Ayres corner and directed it downwards and with enough power to beat Hafed Al Droubi in goal. Shortly after, Lewis Patrick hit a good strike from distance which would have been spectacular if it hadn’t been just too high.

But the Woods worked hard to get a foothold in the game early and Hassan Jalloh dribbled through several challenges before a shot was pushed wide by goalkeeper Carl Dennison on 11 minutes and from the resulting corner, Jack Smith found space to sweep a shot past the ‘keeper for an equaliser.

PHOTOS by James Brown

From there, while the home side had plenty of possession, it was the Woods who threatened most on the counter-attack. After 28 minutes, Troy Perez-Duah was put through by a deft ball from Jalloh, initially lost control but then robbed the defender to get in a shot which was kept out by Dennison with his legs. Five minutes later, Junior Paiva got forward from the left to cut in and aim for the far corner which a deflection taking it just wide of the post.

Former Flackwell player Jack Timberlake did well on the left and sent over a fierce cross that Dennison plucked out of the air on 36 minutes and then Harry McKenna played Timberlake in on goal but he saw his strike well saved by Dennison with his legs once again.

Balu Makumbi, who had been having another fine game at the back, was fouled and needed treatment just before the break and it proved enough to stop him returning for the second half. It meant a reshuffle as Nnaemeka Anyanwu replaced him with Jack Empson returning to the centre of defence and McKenna dropping into the right-back role.

After Jamie Ayres had an early strike well blocked, the Woods continued to threaten as Anyanwu found space for a shot that wasn’t far wide. The Heathens chose that moment to bring on talisman Makowski for Jeffrey Fordjour but on 57 minutes, Northwood could have been in front when Paiva got forward again to cut a ball back to Jalloh but his strike from inside the box was superbly blocked by a defender.

On 63 minutes, it was the hard-working Perez-Duah that worked space for a shot that again saw Dennison capture safely but three minutes later, with Timberlake battling past his marker, a hefty challenge saw him wiped out and unable to continue; Alex Cathline replacing him.

It was at this stage that Flackwell started to get the upper hand with the Referee showing a series of yellow cards, generally only to Northwood players, amongst the increasingly foggy conditions. However, the Woods defence, with Manny Folarin the stand out, stayed solid and it restricted the home side to just another Jamie Ayres shot that was only just over the top.

Both sides made the full compliment of substitutions as the game drew to a close and it was the Woods who had the only real opportunity to win the game on 88 minutes. The lively Anyanwu broke down the left and cut in for a shot that took a deflection but once more the Heathens keeper reacted quickly and grabbed the ball above his head to keep his side level.

The whistle signalled a point apiece and the Woods first away draw since sharing six goals at Guernsey back in April last season. It also lifted Northwood up one place in the table after Stotfold were denied a win at North Leigh when fog caused their game to be abandoned with just over ten minutes to play. Next up, title challengers Berkhamsted at the Skyline Roofing Stadium on Saturday.

REPORT by Alan Evans



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