Zak Brunt (31), Abdul Abdulmalik (37)
Boreham Wood produced a brilliant 2–0 win against promotion rivals Carlisle United, putting on a fantastic performance and providing a good Christmas present for the Boreham Wood supporters. First-half goals from Zak Brunt and Abdul Abdulmalik were enough to give Luke Garrard’s men all three points.
Luke Garrard made two changes to the starting line-up from last Saturday’s FA Trophy exit against Brackley Town, with Erico Sousa replacing Lewis Richardson out wide and Matt Rush coming in for Luke Norris up front.
Wood were dominant from the start and should have taken the lead in the first few seconds when a ball over the top found Matt Rush, who fired wide with only goalkeeper Gabriel Breeze to beat. Wood followed this by controlling the early possession and had another chance on 11 minutes when some lovely interplay between Jeff King and Abdul Abdulmalik created a chance for Charlie O’Connell, but he fired wide from just outside the area. Georgie Kelly went close for the visitors a minute later but was off target with an acrobatic effort. On 26 minutes, some excellent approach play between Zak Brunt and King created a chance for Chris Bush, who was denied by the feet of keeper Breeze. Three minutes later, the Wood defence was caught in possession as they tried to play the ball out, but Regan Linney was unable to beat Ted Curd with a lob.
On 31 minutes, Wood took a deserved lead, and what a goal it was. A lovely ball from Regan Booty picked out Abdul Abdulmalik, who played it wide to King on the right. The right-back played it back to Brunt, who finished emphatically past Breeze in the Carlisle goal. Wood added a second on 37 minutes when Brunt played in Rush, whose shot was saved by Breeze, and when the rebound fell to Abdul Abdulmalik, he buried his shot past Breeze to double Boreham Wood’s lead.
It was inevitable that Carlisle would come out for the second half on the front foot, which they did. Regan Linney went close four minutes after the restart when he tried to beat Curd at his near post, but his shot hit the side netting. The Wood defence held firm and limited the visitors to only half-chances. In fact, Boreham Wood looked more likely to score than concede from this point on. On 65 minutes, Wood had a chance to seal the three points when Abdul Abdulmalik went on a spellbinding run down the left before laying the ball on a plate for Brunt, but he somehow skied his shot with the keeper to beat.
A spate of substitutions from both sides interrupted the flow of the game midway through the second half. This benefited Boreham Wood, as it was Carlisle who needed to create something. On 75 minutes, Booty had a shot that was deflected wide off a Carlisle defender. Three minutes later, Harvey MacAdam crossed the ball for Georgie Kelly, who headed over the bar. On 81 minutes, Brunt fired over from a King corner. In the final minute of stoppage time, Wood thought they had a third when Rush finished well after being one-on-one with Breeze, but the linesman flagged for offside.
It was a great performance from Luke Garrard’s men and their first win of the season against any of their promotion challengers. The win will send players and supporters into the Christmas period in good spirits, in preparation for Wealdstone away on Boxing Day.
Boreham Wood: Curd, King, Newton (Ilesanmi 66), Reynolds, Bush, O’Connell, Brunt (Richardson 83), White, Sousa, Abdul Abdulmalik (Clayden 73), Rush.
Subs not used: Coxe, Payne, Benton, Norris.
Carlisle United: Breeze, Harper, Feeney, Hayden, Kelly, Linney, Wearne (Embleton 60), Gilliead, William, MacAdam (Ajiboye 87), Ellis (Jones 60).
Subs not used: Randall, Whelan, Mugabi, Mason.
Man of the match: Erico Sousa.
Match report written by Brett Lewis.
