Bird (9, 16), Whitfield (74)
Walker (55)
It was nervy for a time, but another dominant display from Boreham Wood secured their ninth league victory in eleven games this season. Once again, it was the Jay Bird and Ben Whitfield show. This time, it was Bird’s turn to get two, with Whitfield adding the other.
Luke Garrard named an unchanged starting line-up from Saturday’s win at Solihull Moors, with new signing Will Wright starting on the bench.
Boreham Wood were simply breathtaking in the first half. They scored twice but could have had many more before the interval. After four minutes, Zak Brunt played in Lewis Richardson, who was denied by Harriers keeper Jack Wint, who was very quickly off his line.
Five minutes later, Wood were in front. Brunt dispossessed Cian Harries before playing in Jay Bird, whose audacious chip beat Wint in goal.
On 12 minutes, Wood could have added a second when a mix-up in the Harriers defence created a chance for Ben Whitfield, but Richard Faakye managed to get in the way. When the rebound fell to Brunt, Harries made a heroic goal-line clearance to keep the score at 1-0.
Wood were not to be denied for long, and on 16 minutes they added a second. A delightful pass by Lewis Richardson picked out Oli Bainbridge, who looked like he was going to shoot but unselfishly picked out Bird, who made no mistake, scoring his and Boreham Wood’s second.
Wood maintained their control and, on 24 minutes, Ben Whitfield tried his luck from outside the penalty area, but it was easily saved by Wint. Soon afterwards, Bird fired wide from a tight angle as he looked to claim a hat-trick.
On 34 minutes, a delightful pass by Chris Bush to Whitfield was followed by a pass from Whitfield to Bird, who fired just wide. A minute later, Bird’s effort was brilliantly saved by Wint.
On 42 minutes, Lewis Richardson had the ball in the Harriers goal, but the linesman deemed him to be offside. Just before the break, a Brunt free-kick was headed just wide by Bird.
The second half had a slower start, with neither team really threatening in the early stages.
Out of nothing, Harriers got an equaliser on 55 minutes when a Luca Gunter error allowed Lewis Walker to steal in, and the former Braintree Town forward made no mistake.
With Wood previously so dominant and now holding only a one-goal advantage, a few butterflies set in among the supporters and players for a period after the goal. While the visitors enjoyed a lot of possession, they were unable to really offer anything.
Wood managed to regain their composure as the half wore on, and on 71 minutes they got a penalty when, for the second match running, Bird was fouled in the area. Faakye was then shown a straight red card for the Harriers.
Luke Garrard made it clear in his post-match interview at Solihull how unhappy he was that Zak Brunt allowed Ben Whitfield the penalty kick in order to complete his hat-trick. Whitfield subsequently missed from 12-yards.
On this occasion, the same opportunity wasn’t going to be awarded to Bird. The regular penalty taker, Brunt, stepped up, presumably to smash the penalty into the top corner. However, he missed from the spot as Wint made an excellent save.
Wood didn’t have to wait much longer for their goal, as three minutes later an inch-perfect cross from Bush found the head of Whitfield at the far post, whose excellent header gave Wint no chance in the Harriers goal.
It was more comfortable for Wood from then on as they used the one-man advantage to control possession and play the ball around nicely. Brunt stung the paws of Wint later on as Wood held out for a comfortable win.
Amazingly, Bird and Whitfield have now scored five goals each so far for Wood in their short loan spells at the club. Luke Garrard’s men go from strength to strength and now look forward to a tricky game against an in-form Altrincham on Saturday.
Boreham Wood: Gunter, Clarke, Bainbridge, Bush (Kensdale 89), O’Connell, White (Wright 89), Brunt, Marshall-Miranda, Richardson (Cashman 75), Whitfield (Golden 81), Bird (Wilkinson 81)
Subs not used: Reynolds, Stapleberg
Kidderminster Harriers: Wint, Harries, MacDonald (Giles 40), Faakye, Brogan, Crompton, Walker, Dolan, Brown, Stewart (Hargreaves 46), Devine
Subs not used: Bishope, Hall, Amantchi, Minaker, Moore
Man of the Match: Jay Bird
Written by Brett Lewis.
