Northwood 3 – 1 Wealdstone
Northwood3 - 1
WealdstonePast their sell by date?
You have to wonder, when you see players that do have ability and quality but then fail to show it so magnificently.
All credit to Northwood. They motivated themselves with nothing more than a very feint hope of stealing the third promotion spot, where as the end of season blues were all Wealdstone could muster.
From the start, Northwood were quicker and stronger in the challenge and they had Stones on the back foot early on , forcing a number of corners that Wealdstone managed to get away safely. Stones were limited to the occasional break and still failed to create a constructive chance. On 41 minutes Northwood took the lead when a cross to the far post found Cook, whose powerful header beat Carter, who must at times feel he’s facing a firing squad, with his only defence a colander, as there are so many holes in front of him.
This at least encouraged Stones to develop a chance immediately afterwards, but the ball caught under Morgan’s feet and allowed Felton to save. The second half started with a change of shape from Wealdstone in more ways than one, as Walker replaced the injured Tucker, but the style of the match didn’t change as again Northwood ran the Stones midfield and defence ragged.
The second goal came on 60 minutes when Stones contrived to give the ball away at another free kick, this time a break down the left brought a quick cross straight to the unmarked Yaku in the six yard box, his simple header doubling the lead. He also scored the third goal in the 85th minute. Stones again gave the ball away, and with the defence pushing forward, the ball was played past Ramsay for Yaku to run on and give Carter no chance.
With three minutes left, Stones seriously tested the Northwood defence for the first time, and a Carter free kick found Hammatt with a free header to score. It showed what was possible, but also what had been missing for the previous 87 minutes.
Wealdstone: Andy Carter, Jason Shaw, Bryan Hammatt (87), Robin Tucker (s45 Lee Walker b89), Justin Bowen, Kevin Ramsay (b75), Carl Hunt (s84 Gulad Adan), Martin Carter, Mick Swaysland (s70 Jermaine Beckford), Marvin Morgan, Danny Tilbury.