August 28, 2023
My Bank Holiday Monday’s entertainment was to take in Boreham Wood’s visit to Court Place Farm, the first time I had ever seen Boreham Wood play.
They are located in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, although the football club is spelt with two words ! The town is perhaps most famous for Elstree Film Studios.
Their journey to Oxford would have been 60-65 miles depending on the route taken, but it should normally take around 1 hour 40 minutes.
Boreham Wood finished in 6th place last season and lost a dramatic play-off semi-final 2-3 to Notts County, conceding the equaliser in the 97th minute and the winner in the 120th minute.
They won the Conference South play-off in 2014/15 and have been in National League ever since. In 2017/18 they came close to winning promotion to the Football League but lost the play-off final at Wembley 1-2 to Tranmere Rovers.
Boreham Wood notably reached the 5th Round of the 2021/22 FA Cup, beating Barnet, Eastleigh, St Albans, AFC Wimbledon & Bournemouth before going down 0-2 at Everton.
The Wood started the day 14th in table with 1-3-1 record after drawing 0-0 at home to Oldham on Saturday. They started the season with a 2-2 draw at Gateshead, and followed by beating Halifax 2-0 at home. Their next match was a 1-2 home defeat to Solihull Moors, after which they achieved a 1-1 draw at Altrincham.
Manager Luke Garrard has been in charge since 2015 and perhaps the most notable name in their squad was Ghanian striker Kwesi Appiah ( 7 caps ), who has scored twice so far this season and has had a varied career including Norwegian side Viking Stavanger, Crystal Palace, Cambridge United, Reading, Wimbledon, Crawley and Colchester.
Experienced midfielder Jack Payne has Gillingham, Peterborough, Leyton Orient, Blackpool and Crawley amongst others on his CV but was injured in pre-season and is expected to be out for a couple of more weeks. Portuguese midfielder Eric Souza has played for Celje in Slovenia, as well as Accrington Stanley, Tranmere and Grimsby.
Colombian Striker Angelo Balanta has previously played for QPR, Wycombe, MK Dons, Bristol Rovers and Carlisle, midfielder Liam O’Neil has played for WBA, VPS in Finland, Scunthorpe, Chesterfield and Cambridge United and defender David Stephens is ex-Hibernian and Barnet.
After two consecutive away draws, Oxford City went into today’s fixture searching for their first ever win in the National League. They made three changes, with Williams-Bushell, Humphrey-Ewers and Sanderson coming in for Moore, Fleet and Fonkeu respectively. Boreham Wood were unchanged from Saturday.
Following promotion to the National League, ticket prices at Court Place Farm have increased to £18 at the gate or £17 if purchased in advance online, compared to £15/£13 respectively last season. Changes to the ground included a burger van by the ambulance entrance by the clubhouse, and another temporary open stand on the far side of the pitch. Unlike The Hoops’ two first home matches, there was no segregation for today’s game, but The Wood fans mostly congregated in the new stand although were dotted all around the ground.
Following promotion to level 5, drinking with a view of the pitch is against the law at this level, so white screens have been installed in the club house to comply with this requirement. It seems illogical that you can watch a level 6 match with 2000+ spectators with a pint in your hand, but you can’t do this in a crowd of 800 in the National League………
Bet365 made Boreham Wood 5/4 favourites, Oxford City were 21/10, with the draw at 12/5 and the temperature was 19 degrees and cloudy at the 15.00 kick-off.
The visitors started strongly and quickly won a free-kick on the right-hand side of the pitch. The delivery though from Whelan was poor and headed away by the first line of defence, and when the ball was reworked to Whelan, his high cross was easily claimed by Haigh. Left-wing back Ilesanmi was then put in space, but again the delivery was poor and cleared by Carroll. The Wood re-won possession and Marsh chipped to the far post but the header from ex-Brackley Zimbabwean striker Lee Ndlovu was poor and went harmlessly wide.
With 7 minutes played, The Wood launched a long throw into the Oxford City penalty area which wasn’t dealt with very well, and after a bit of pin-ball, Ndlovu shot from 6 yards and it seemed a certain goal, until Carroll made a miraculous clearance off the line.
The Hoops managed to win a free-kick mid-way into the Boreham Wood half, but before Ashby could take, Bush wrestled Carroll to the floor, and although the referee spoke to both players, no action was taken. When the free-kick was taken, Ilesanmi beat Carroll at the back post to concede a corner.
Boreham Wood continued to dominate though, and after Appiah was fouled on the edge of the area, Whelan’s free-kick was sent into the wall. Ilesanmi again looked dangerous on the left and beat Williams-Bushell, but again the cross from the ex-York and Dagenham & Redbridge man was poor.
The Hoops Josh Parker went down on the edge of the area after a challenge from Fyfield, but in an echo of the refereeing from Saturday’s game at Maidenhead, play was waved on. Coxe then made a surging run down the right wing, but after he went to the floor when challenged, play was again allowed to continue, and City launched a swift counter attack with Sanderson being sent clear down the left by Miccio. The Fulham loanee made his way into the visitor’s penalty area but from a tightish angle fired narrowly over the bar.
With 17 minutes played, Ndlovu was played into space on the right-hand side, but his cross-cum-shot was partially blocked, and keeper Haigh gathered the loose ball. Two minutes later another scramble inside the Oxford City area saw a close-range shot stopped by Carroll close to the goal-line and Haigh picked the ball up to end the danger.
After Parker again went down a little too easily, a free-kick was awarded just outside the Boreham Wood area, but although Ashby’s effort sailed over the wall it went straight into the arms of keeper Ashmore.
The Wood did get the ball into the net in the 27th minute. Appiah’s cross from the left was met by Whelan but his mis-hit attempt went across the 6 yard box for Ndlovu to slide in and poke the ball into the corner of the net. Fortunately for the home side, the linesman’s flag was raised for offside and the goal was chalked off.
The visitors had another golden chance a minute later when Carroll’s attempted back pass was under hit and intercepted by Appiah who headed for goal, rounded the goal-keeper but could only shoot into the side-netting. Had he looked up he would have seen Ndlovu completely free for a tap-in.
A super cross-field ball was well controlled by Williams-Bushell on the right-wing but a tremendous tackle from Ilesanmi led to a swift counter attack for the visitors, but City defended well.
The pressure from Boreham Wood continued and a cute flick from Marsh with the outside of his right foot from 20 yards produced another diving save from Haigh.
The battle between Parker and the Wood centre-backs continued, but after stepping inside Fyfield the Antiguan again hit the deck but failed to convince the referee there had been any unlawful impediment. Boreham Wood were relentless in their search for the opening goal, and with 36 minutes played a cross from Coxe was superbly headed by Appiah with his back to the goal, but unfortunately for the Ghanaian, the ball flew narrowly over and onto the top of the net.
Miccio then made a timely clearance to deny Ndlovu at the expense of a corner. From Whelan’s delivery, Ilesanmi and Burley competed at the back post and a corner was the outcome. Burley was again on hand to head the next corner off for another set-piece, and went the next ball was sent in low, the clearance was mis-hit and sent high into air, from which Ndlovu headed over from a narrow angle.
The first yellow card was shown when Coyle and Ndlovu wrestled with each other, and although it looked a bit of six of one and a half dozen of the other, the free-kick went in favour of the visitors. Fyfield took the free-kick into the wall, but then sent the loose-ball high into the area. Under pressure Haigh dropped the ball, but his defence were covering and cleared the danger.
With added on time being played, The Hoops won a free-kick on the left, and Ashby’s ball towards the far-post slipped through the hands of Ashmore, but Bush put off for a corner before Miccio could capitalise on the error. The Wood defence held firm against two corners, and the sides headed off for the interval with the game scoreless. However, Boreham Wood would have been justified in thinking they should have been a couple of goals ahead, such had been their dominance of the half.
The first chance of the second half again fell to Wood, but although Ndlovu forced another close range save from Haigh, the offside flag was again raised. However, with 4 minutes of the half played, Parker made a strong run from close to half-way and lashed a thunderbolt goalwards. Ashmore made an odd-looking save, somehow turning a shot straight at him off his legs and off for a corner. The subsequent set-piece was punched away by The Wood guardian for another corner.
Ndlovu screwed a shot horribly wide from a good position, but the home side were gradually getting parity in the match. Wood centre-back Stephens saw yellow for going into the back of Parker, one foul too many on the Hoops striker, then Williams-Bushell played a nice inside pass to Ashby, but the shot was partially blocked and gathered by Ashmore.
Stephens was on shaky ground after another foul on Parker, but the referee understandably deemed it to be unworthy of a second yellow, but City’s Humphrey-Ewers was not so fortunate a strong tackle was deemed to be excessive and was shown a yellow card.
O’Niel then saw a long range attempted blocked, and after Coyle failed to cut-out a cross-field pass, Coxe sliced high and wide.
The game’s turning point came in the 65th minute. From a City throw-in close to the left-hand corner flag, Humphrey-Ewers showed good persistence to break through two would-be tackles to tee up Kirby on the edge of the D, to drill into the keeper’s bottom right-hand corner for an unstoppable goal. The home crowd erupted in delight !
The visitors’ increasing desperation was shown as Coxe made a sad dive when challenged by Parker, and was rightly ignored by the referee. Parker then skinned Stephens near half-way and headed for goal. Although forced wide, he managed to get a shot in across the face of the goal, but the ball ended up going narrowly wide.
The Hoops were now on top, and a flowing move involving Williams-Bushell and Humphrey-Ewers ended with Ashby’s shot lacking power and was easily saved.
Boreham Wood’s response was for Ndlovu to brush past Miccio but although his cross flashed across the goalmouth none of his team-mates could take advantage.
The second goal arrived in the 75th minute. A super ball by Miccio down the left channel saw Ashby scampering clear. His pass into the penalty area found Parker unmarked, and after taking one touch, his left-footed shot on goal was too strong for Ashmore and the ball rolled over the line and into the net.
Coxe was able to step inside Ashby but slipped in the process of making a cross, and with the ball sailing out of the ground, he could be said to have coxed it up….
The home side were now rampant, and after Carroll was fouled close to the by-line, Ashby’s low free-kick was met by Sanderson who smacked the ball home from 10 yards for 3-0 after 80 minutes.
Fyfield did miss a good chance for a consolation goal for the visitors but he could only put Whelan’s free-kick over from close range, but The Hoops rapped up the scoring in the 86th minute. Talisman Zac McEachran had only been on the field for a minute in his first appearance of the season and delightful play involving McEachran, Parker and Ashby, saw Ashby’s delicate flick through the Wood back-line put McEachran clear to joyfully smash past the exposed keeper.
With 6 minutes of added time being played, the crowded were treated to some trademark trickery from McEachran, beating two Wood players before O’Neil scythed him down for one of the season’s most obvious yellow cards. Ashby and McEachran then combined to play in Kirby but the shot from a narrow angle was well saved by Ashmore.
The final whistle came with Oxford City registering their first win in the National League and move out of the bottom four. Frankly, at half-time such an outcome looked unlikely as Boreham Wood had looked much the better side for 45 minutes. However, they failed to take their chances, and Oxford City looked a different side after taking the lead for the first time this season. The Hoops are now unbeaten in three matches and have two consecutive clean-sheets.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zYvYU9aaEA
Oxford City : Haigh – Burley, Carroll, Miccio – Williams-Bushell ( Moore ), Ashby, Humphrey-Ewers, Kirby, Coyle – Sanderson ( McEachran ), Parker
Boreham Wood : Ashmore – Bush, Stephens, Fyfield – Coxe, Whelan, O’Neil, Ilesanmi – Marsh, Ndlovu, Appiah ( Abraham )
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