Metropolitan Police 0 Northwood 0
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Tuesday 9th April 2024
| NORTHWOOD | |||
 |
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| 1 | Andrew McCorkell © | ||
| 2 | Harry McKenna | ||
| 3 | Carl Stewart | ||
| 4 | Teddy Stacey | ||
| 5 | Sam Jenkins (82m) | ||
| 6 | Stephan Langley | ||
| 7 | Denzel Effah | ||
| 8 | Jeremy Stewart | ||
| 9 | Dan Williams | ||
| 10 | Archie James (86m) | ||
| 11 | Godlove Oppong (78m) | ||
| Substitutes | |||
| 12 | Julio Fresneda (86m) | ||
| 14 | Kofi Anokye-Boadi (78m) | ||
| 15 | Luke Tingey | ||
| 16 | Keagan Cole | ||
| 17 | Deago Dunbar-Bonnie (82m) | ||
|
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Northwood overcame the loss of two key central defenders in the pre-match warm-up to earn a rare away point in this clash with the Mets, who became the only side to fail to score against the Woods in the league this season.
Manager Ben Bukowski was able to welcome back regular goalkeeper Andrew McCorkell after missing Saturday’s defeat at Corinthian-Casuals and gave Jeremy Stewart a Woods debut in the centre of midfield but his plans for the game were thrown in disarray during the warm-up.
Firstly, skipper Luke Tingey reported feeling ill so stepped down and was replaced by substitute Teddy Stacey for an unfamiliar defensive role in the centre and then Harry Gallagher pulled a leg muscle and also had to be replaced by another of the subs, this time Sam Jenkins.
The Police went into game having failed to win in eight previous matches so the Woods were still hoping to add to their woes as the game began slowly. It was Northwood who had the first real attack on goal as Archie James chased down a through-ball. It was the Blues defender Kjonte Gillfillan-Waul who attempted to intervene but he only kicked it goalwards and goalkeeper Liam Beach had to dive to push it wide.
Seven minutes later, Denzel Effah got in the first of a series of excellent crosses from the left but there was no-one able to apply the necessary touch in front of goal and it was turned behind for another corner. Without the height of the missing Woods defenders, the side appeared less effective from those corners coming into the box.
The home side’s first chance on goal came after 27 minutes when the ball fell to Mason Galloway but the young striker smashed it well over the bar.
It was only a brief respite for the Mets though as Northwood continued to enjoy the better of the first-half. Effah did well on approach to the penalty-area, beating a couple of players but fired well over the bar and then Godlove Oppong cut in from the other flank bus his effort flashed across goal and wide of the far post.
Oppong was doing a good job holding the ball up and he won a free-kick just outside the box after 41 minutes. Effah was the chosen taker and his shot beat the wall but flew just wide of the post. Then it was Dan Williams who turned well to burst into the area only to shoot over with a right-foot shot.
Just three minutes after the restart, Carl Stewart broke forward and exchanged neat passes with Williams to get in front of goal. He got in a shot at the second attempt but Beach was equal to it, pushing his effort over the top.
The Mets needed to get a hold on the game and they did go close from a quick break soon after with Jamal Sharpe getting through both the Woods defence and the oncoming McCorkell wide on the right. He sent over a good cross which was met by the head of Cameron Edwin but that only found the side-netting at the near-post.
A minute later, Effah caused some more damage on the left to sling over a cross which picked out James but his header drifted wide of the far post as the Woods still searched for an all-important opening goal.
After 57 minutes, McCorkell was penalised for handball just outside the box. Substitute Igor De Olivera Souza fired it low but the Woods ‘keeper made amends by saving. The end-to-end start continued as Effah got the better of his marker again to cut back a cross. James let it run through to Williams who looked sure to score but swept the ball over the crossbar from a great position.
Williams, who was making his 50th appearance for the club, tried his luck from distance soon after but again he was unable to hit the target and after 70 minutes, Jenkins got forward with a jinking run which took him into the area. He got a shot off but it deflected off a defender and Beach was able to save comfortably.
Another opportunity came the way of the Blues three minutes later with a rare mistake from McCorkell who mistimed a punched clearance. The ball fell kindly to Sharpe right in front of goal but he stabbed his shot over the bar.
The excitement continued on 77 minutes as Williams raced onto a wide through-ball and got past the keeper. His shot from a tight angle hit the near-post and the ball was cleared. A minute later, Oppong was replaced by the fresh legs of Kofi Anokye-Boadi and it almost paid off immediately as Jenkins slotted a ball through to the Woods substitute but his first-time strike was well-blocked by Beach as he came out to meet him. They also collided and the Woods man limped away from it.
After Jeremy Stewart had a low shot from distance which was again easily saved by Beach, it was the home side who upped their efforts in stoppage-time to find a winner. Sharpe battled against Woods substitute Deago Dunbar-Bonnie to get in a shot which deflected off the Northwood defender and clipped the crossbar. Finally, in the fourth of the six additional minutes, Isaac Nkosi got his head to a corner but saw the ball crash back off the crossbar and get cleared to safety.
In the final seconds, Williams did well to force a corner but the defender who made the tackle fell heavily onto his ankle and he could play no further part as the corner came in and was cleared, signalling the final whistle.
REPORT by Alan Evans
