Hadley 1  Northwood 1

Tuesday 25th November 2025

 

NORTHWOOD
1	Hafad Al-Droubi
2	Ademide Baruwa
3	Bryan Mankumbani (59m)
4	Manny Folarin ©
5	Gabe Cuthbert
6	Dan Vincent (72m)
7	Reece Price-Placid (72m)
8	Carl Stewart
9	Dan Williams
10	Freddie Ford
11	Harry McKenna
Substitutes
12	Nasir Sharifi
14	Hicham Bouchareb
15	Devonte Totesaut (72m)
16	Jon-Jo Bates (72m)
17	Henry Atkinson (59m)
	Hadley: Charles Taylor, Levi Young, Prince Kandolo, Cameron Ferguson, Hedley Ogbebor, Hermes Gbio, Antonio Paone-Michael, Richard Ennin, Lenny Asamoah (Daniel Taylor 89m), Cheik Zidouemba (Alphonso Kennedy 46m), Luke Alfano

Northwood picked up another valuable point on their travels with this midweek draw at Hadley, though they were grateful to returning goalkeeper Hafed Al-Droubi for a series of saves in the second half when the pressure was on.

After suffering their first away defeat at the weekend, the Woods were looking to bounce back against a side that had been showing signs of inconsistency in recent weeks but with Osa Otote ruled out with illness, the side was shuffled around with Bryan Mankumbani coming into defence, Harry McKenna moving up front and Reece Price-Placid also returning in place of Devonte Totesaut.

Once again, Northwood made a strong start to the match. A good ball from Freddie Ford sent Dan Williams on a chase and he beat the goalkeeper Charlie Taylor to it but his touch took him too wide to get a shot in and his eventual pass went astray.

Then, on 12 minutes, it was a similar ball from Mankumbani down the left flank that put Williams through again. He drove to the left edge of the area and wrong-footed his marker before cutting the ball back to Carl Stewart and though his shot was well blocked by Taylor, Ford was well placed to slide home the loose ball to put the Woods in front.

Hadley struggled to break down the Woods defence but after 26 minutes central defender Hedley Ogbebor carried the ball a long way down the centre before taking a shot which took a deflection but Al-Droubi was behind it and saved comfortably.

Northwood had dropped back into defensive mode and eight minutes later, a corner led to a half-cleared header from Dan Vincent that dropped kindly to Richard Ennin but again his shot found the Woods goalkeeper. The home side got a little lucky on 39 minutes though when a couple of ricochets inside the box saw the ball fall kindly to Ennin who slotted home neatly.

Within a minute, the Woods could have been back in front as Williams got in another good cross from the left which Ford met with a flicked header at the near-post only for Taylor to acrobatically tip it over the bar one-handed.

Still all to play for in the second half, Hadley made a substitution and started on the front-foot, again pushing Northwood back but it wasn’t until the 56th minute that Antonio Paone-Michael knocked in a cross from the right that Lenny Asamoah guided back into the path of Prince Kandolo and his curling effort was tipped over the bar by Al-Droubi.

Henry Atkinson was introduced for fresh legs in place of Makumbani with the versatile McKenna dropping back into the left-back position and the youngster soon linked up well with Ford who knocked in a good cross but it just failed to pick out Williams.

PHOTOS by James Brown

Back at the other end and a corner saw the giant Kandolo up for a header with Gabe Cuthbert and when McKenna’s attempted clearance only dropped back to the Hadley player, he skied his half-volley well over the bar.

Al-Droubi was in action again on 68 minutes to save at the near-post from Paone-Michael’s strike while the Woods made a couple more substitutions with Totesaut coming on for Price-Placid and Vincent, having been wiped out by a foul from Hermes Gbio which somehow avoided a yellow card, limped off to be replaced by Jon-Jo Bates.

Williams was doing well to get crosses in from the left when he got the opportunity but there was no-one attacking them in the middle with time running out. With 87 minutes on the clock Kandolo climbed to get his head to another corner which Al-Droubi kept out with an instinctive block and then Manny Folarin got in a great block to stop Luke Alfano from getting in a strike from the loose ball.

A minute Al-Droubi saved again as Ennin looked to bag a second with a crisp finish and this time Alfano did get a shot in from the rebound but the Woods ‘keeper was equal to it again for what proved to be the home side’s last chance. In the final minute of normal time, Williams knocked in another inviting cross and Totesaut climbed above Ogbebor to get a header at goal but it was just too high.

Then, in the final minute of added time, a loose ball ran towards Stewart 25 yards out which saw him drive a first-time shot but it flew well wide and both sides had to settle for a point apiece.

It’s a big game back at the Skyline for the Woods on Saturday as they play hosts to fellow strugglers Aylesbury United who climbed back above Northwood in the table with their first home win of the season on Wednesday night, beating Marlow 2-0 after the visitors had seen their goalkeeper sent off midway through the first half.

REPORT by Alan Evans