A Matt Rush brace, including a goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time, gave Wood an unlikely point despite Luke Garrard’s men having to play for more than an hour with 10 men due to Marley Marshall-Miranda getting sent off for a second yellow card on 29 minutes.

With 11 men on the pitch, Wood took the lead through Matt Rush in the first half. With a one-man advantage, Woking scored twice in the second half through Timmy Akinola and Aaron Drewe before Rush’s late equaliser
 
Luke Garrard made one change from Saturday’s win over Brackley Town with Junior Robinson replacing an absent Cameron Coxe at right back.

Wood started on the front foot with most of the first half played very much in the Woking half. However, the only chance they had in the opening period was when Lewis Richardson had a shot blocked by Timi Odusina on four minutes. They eventually started to turn and screw, and on 19 minutes, a great ball over the top found Matt Rush whose shot was blocked by Chin Okoli.

Two minutes later, Wood got the goal they deserved. Abdul Abdulmalik went on a brilliant run down the left before crossing the ball to Matt Rush, the striker firing home for 22nd league goal this season. However, on 29 minutes, Wood’s case wasn’t helped by a second yellow card for Marley Marshall-Miranda, shown to the midfielder after a late challenge on Matt Ward.

Initially, playing with 10 men didn’t bother Wood and they had a good chance, three minutes later when a pass from Chris Bush found Matt Rush in a good position, but had the ball stuck in his feet. The Cards soon started to create things and shortly afterwards, Chin Okoli looked like he’d equalised for the hosts, but his shot somehow cannoned off both the post and crossbar.

On 37 minutes, Luke Garrard shored up the midfield by bringing on Tom White for his first significant number of minutes since returning from injury. Junior Robinson, who had just been booked, was made to make way as Luke Garrard couldn’t run the risk of having a second player given their marching orders.

HT: Woking 0-1 Boreham Wood

Luke Garrard sacrificed Abdul Abdulmalik at the break and brought on Joe Newton as part of a change of system and to be fair, in the early part of the second half, his side looked comfortable. If anything, Wood looked more likely to score in the period after the restart.

However, Woking’s equaliser came on 57 minutes after breaking down a Wood attack, the Cards breaking before the ball was crossed into Timmy Akinola who made no mistake from close range. After the goal, Woking smelt blood and went for the kill.

A series of corners and long throws were a constant menace to the Wood defence. A Jamie Andrews shot forced Ted Curd into an outstanding save and two minutes later, the Chelsea loanee produced another wonderful stop to deny Matt Ward.

On 70 minutes, some heroic defending from Tom White denied Ward another goal scoring opportunity before Harry Beautyman forced Curd into yet abither good save. Woking would eventually take the lead on 81 minutes when a corner caused mayhem in the Wood box before Aaron Drewe fired home.

Wood now had to go on the attack and had a good chance in the first minute of stoppage time when a long ball from Chris Bush picked out Charlie O’Connell, whose header across goal was just missed by Matt Rush. Wood started to apply some real pressure when a trademark Bush long throw caused havoc in the Woking area, but on this occasion, the hosts were able to hold out.

In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Wood got their equaliser. It was started by an excellent reverse ball from Leon Ayinde to find Regan Booty who crossed for Rush to bundle the ball home and even the honours.

FT: Woking 0-1 Boreham Wood

It was a good battling performance from Wood, who showed tremendous character and grit to get something from the game. However, Luke Garrard will feel that a moment of ill discipline cost his side three points, because prior to the sending off, Wood were in total control.

Woking: Jaaskelainan, Drewe, Richards, Okoli, Odusina, Andrew, Ward, Hinds (Beautyman 74), Syla (Forster-Caskey 83), Akinola (Turner 75), Sanderson (Ashford 90+2).

Subs not used: Ross, Pennant, Wilson.

Boreham Wood: Curd, Robinson (White 37), Ilesanmi, O’Connell, Bush, Marshall-Miranda, Brunt, Booty, Abdulmalik (Newton 46, Clayden 85), Richardson (Ayinde 65), Rush.

Subs not used: Payne, Henry, Reynold.

Man of the Match: Ted Curd.

Match report written by Brett Lewis.