Dallas Double Does Wood
Pre-Season Friendly
Boreham Wood 1 Brentford 3
by John Mead
A well contested match saw the First Division side run out winners with Stuart Dallas’ double and a Clayton Donaldson strike cancelling out Calum Willock’s opener.
There were a lot of positives to be taken from the game with Elite PASE player Kyle Thompson in his first ever start for Wood producing a commendable performance at right back up against the First Division giants. Calum Willock scored his second in as many games, again supported by the assist from Donovan Simmonds.
The Wood defence was resolute and was to be punished when mistakes prevailed against such talented opposition, which rarely happened.
Sam Saunders who was spotted playing for Carshalton Athletic found the target regularly throughout the evening and featured early as Brentford took the game to Wood in the opening stages. Clayton Donaldson drew a superb save from James Russell when played through on goal, the shot stopper diving to his left to palm away the shot. Russell then saved bravely at the feet of Donaldson before Wood took the lead with their first attack.
A superb fifty yard ball from Callum Reynolds was majestically pulled down by Simmonds near the right hand corner flag, before he unleashed a superb cross that Willock beat The Bees triallist ‘keeper Winstone Boldt to, heading home after sixteen minutes.
Four minutes later Graeme Montgomery almost put Wood into cloud cuckoo land when Willock played through to him just inside the area. With huge defender Aaron Pierre lurking and seemingly little on, Montgomery produced the deftest of touches before looping an improbable shot goalwards that required a twisting save from Boldt.
Mario Noto broke up play on several occasions, with Wood made to work hard throughout. Donaldson fired a shot low across goal with Liam Enver-Marum firing just wide for Wood after another superb ball from Simmonds.
The speed of Brentford’s attack down the right led by Will Grigg, a recent signing from Walsall where he found the net twenty times last campaign, led to the equaliser just before the interval. His low cross was perfect for Dallas, who totally unmarked, swept home after forty-two minutes.
Saunders then shot just over before the visitors started the second half with real purpose. Toumani Diagouraga and Saunders both went close, before Substitute Manny Oyeleke’s long range effort was kept out by Russell. This was interspersed by an opportunist bullet volley from Noto that hit the upright angle from fully thirty yards, after Mark Bentley’s shot was charged down.
Russell then excelled when Javi Venta set up Grigg who looked odds on to score, only to be foiled by a brilliant goal line block from Russell who is having an excellent Pre-Season to date.
Brentford went ahead after fifty-five minutes with Diagouraga forcing the attack through the middle of the park. He found Saunders whose ball for Donaldson was inch perfect, the forward allowing the ball to run across his body before dispatching an unreachable finish into the bottom left hand corner of the net. Quite how Russell kept out Paul Hayes’ effort after sixty-eight minutes with a lightning reaction save diving to his right remains a mystery!
Substitutions a plenty for both sides saw Ian Allinson finish the game with five PASE players on the field of play. It was the visitors who controlled the final stage with the final goal a result of a rare Russell error. His clearance was not perfect for Bentley, allowing Dallas to send the ball straight back at pace, bulging the net.
The evening according to Ian Allinson was , “Pleasing for both Managers. I have just had a long chat with Uwe Rossler who was extremely impressed by our Club and the workout his side had. From my point of view tonight showed we are not a million miles away from them. We are using the PASE boys and they are not letting us down. Kyle Thompson at eighteen years old was a fine example of this. It is important to get minutes into the Squad without overstretching them.”
Team: Russell, Nunn, Thompson (Sub – Rodrigues 56 mins.), Bentley, Reynolds, Garrard (Sub – Doolan 70 mins.), Simmonds (Sub – Vasey 82 mins.), Noto (Sub – Brown 61 mins.), Willock, Montgomery (Sub – Sterling-Parker 70 mins.), Enver-Marum (Sub – Morgan 56 mins.).
Goals: Boreham Wood: Willock 16. Brentford: Dallas 42, 84. Donaldson 55.
SEE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR RECENT FRIENDLY GAME AGAINST ARSENAL BELOW;
