Pre Season Friendly

Biggleswade Town 1 Boreham Wood 3

By John Mead.

Six games into the pre season and a first game against Non League opposition resulted in a comfortable victory against Biggleswade Town.

Goals from Inih Effiong, Callum Reynolds and Graeme Montgomery forged the result on an afternoon where Ian Allinson took full advantage of sizing up his options for the coming season.

There were starts for Lee Close and Harvey Scott-Morris, with both players having a big hand in the result.

The Waders featured Lee Allinson and Joe Reynolds, two well known ex-Woodites amongst their ranks.

The opening goal after 12 minutes featured the two current PASE players in the starting line up. Close was first to the challenge and had the nous to guide his interception into the path of Scott-Morris. He took a brief glance forward and executed the pass of the game , a curling weighted ball thirty yards forward which was perfect for the run of Effiong. The giant striker still had work to do and he held off his marker before hitting a low first time effort into the bottom right hand corner of Michael McEntegart’s net.

Close, who has been asked to play as a central defender in place of his favoured wide defensive position then almost got on the score sheet himself. Montgomery sprayed a ball wide for David Hutton whose superb cross had the beating of The Waders defence finding Close who hit the crossbar with his volley.

Chez Isaac then had a shot parried at the right hand post by McEntegart before Scott-Morris again provided a cutting edge ball for Effiong. This time the giant striker picked up an inujry when when was tripped by McEntegart outside the area. On a match day a straight red card, but given the nature of the tie he was reprimanded and Wood were denied a certain second goal.

A minute before the interval Scott-Morris further championed quality not quantity when he set up Wood’s second. A cleared corner fell to him on the right and his low drilled ball into danger found Captain for the day Callum Reynolds. In contrast to the normal defender in the box with the ball at his feet football, his drag back, turn and low shot was as good as as any top class strikers at this level and beyond.

Both Elliot Buchanan and Effiong were carrying strains and were replaced for the second half by Omer Riza and Mario Noto.

The Waders settled more into the game and both sides sprayed the ball around the park when in possession.

However The Waders lacked that cutting edge in front of goal. Montgomery posted a trademark goal, a run at defence from wide followed by a precision rising drive after the two second half substitute had combined, giving Wood an unassailable lead after 63 minutes.

A mass substitution after 73 minutes by Allinson saw Daniel Lewis deputise for the immaculate James Russell in goal, with PASE colleagues Lewis Wallace and Robert Hastings along with triallist Jack Hutchinson take to the field.

Sensing the moment The Waders most influential player, wide man Craig Daniel flew at Wallace down the right crossing into danger. Lewis’ punch went only as far as Matt Clifford who headed home a consolation goal.

Speaking after the game Wood boss Ian Allinson emphasised, “ The need to rest players that are carrying strains. We are approaching the Eastleigh game in three weeks and I have Inih, Elliott and James in goal carrying strains. This has meant putting the pressure of the likes of Ben Nunn, Chez Isaac and Callum Reynolds to play more often than I would like. That said it has given Harvey Scott-Morris and Lee Close more minutes than anticipated and they were both excellent this afternoon. We welcome back Charlie O’Loughlin this week and will assess his fitness at training. Our only worry is the injury to Luke Garrard which may rule him out for the start of the season.”

On the afternoon’s performance he added, “ That was exactly what we needed after playing five games where the opposition are full time, play a different eleven each forty five minutes and come at you with the ball at ninety miles per hour! We took a while to adjust but it has been a really good pre season thus far.”

Wood: Russell (Lewis 73), Nunn, Jones ( Wallace 73), Isaac, Reynolds, Close, Hutton (Hastings 73), Scott-Morris (Hutchinson 73). Buchanan ( Noto 46), Effiong (Riza 46), Mongomery.

Goals: Biggleswade Town: Clifford 74.

Boreham Wood: Effiong 12, Reynolds 44, Montgomery 63.

Loading

Share This