MATCH PREVIEW – NOTTS COUNTY (A) | Boreham Wood Football Club

Notts County vs. Boreham Wood
Tuesday 22nd March 2022, KO 7.45pm
Meadow Lane, Vanarama National League

THE CONTEXT

This evening, Wood travel to Nottingham to take on fellow promotion hopefuls Notts County in an important clash that sees the sixth take on seventh in the Vanarama National League.

The Magpies ended a six-game winless run in all competitions last time out with a narrow victory over Dagenham & Redbridge, returning to the play-off places as a result.

Wood meanwhile were unable to end a winless run of our own but will be motivated to return to winning ways after picking up a valuable point against Grimsby Town at the weekend.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

“THE DESTROYER”
HARRY ARTER

Republic of Ireland international Harry Arter made the shock decision to drop back into the non-league last week after returning to Nottingham Forest from his loan spell at Charlton Athletic. An Addicks academy product, Arter made his debut as a late substitute in a League Cup Third Round defeat to Luton Town but later spent nearly a year out of action due to injury, and subsequently struggled to break into the first team upon his return.

He was loaned out to Staines Town and Welling United before being released and eventually joined Woking after unsuccessful trials at Gillingham and Ipswich Town, although his time at Kingfield was short-lived with 36 appearances in his single season in Surrey before leaving for AFC Bournemouth.

His time on the South Coast proved far more successful, establishing himself as a mainstay in the Cherries team over a ten-year stint aside from a brief loan spell early on at Carlisle United. He made a total of 256 appearances and won promotions from League One and from the Championship, with his performances in the latter season seeing him voted Supporters’ Player of the Season and PFA Championship Player of the Season.

The midfielder ended up playing 69 times for the club in the Premier League, but opportunities soon dried up and he departed on loans to Cardiff City and Fulham in search of regular first team football. Determined to play consistently, his time at Dean Court came to an end permanently in 2020 when he joined Nottingham Forest, but he quickly fell out of favour and returned to the Club where his career began, Charlton Athletic, on loan at the start of the 2021/22 campaign. He opted to return to his parent club in January though, with a move to Meadow Lane following two months later.

“THE PLAYMAKER”
RUBEN RODRIGUES

Ruben Rodrigues became the first Portuguese to play for Notts County when he swapped the Dutch second division for the National League in the summer of 2020. Having played in Holland since academy level, he enjoyed spells with Wilhelmina Boys, Gemert and Den Bosch, making his Eerste Divisie debut with the latter before a loan spell with De Treffers, prior to his move to Meadow Lane. A versatile attacker who can feature anywhere across the frontline, the playmaker has provided plenty of excitement and lifted the National League Player of the Month award for May along with the Fan’s Player of the Year award to help the Magpies storm towards the play-offs, scoring 12 goals in his debut campaign which he has already matched in his second.

“THE FINISHER”
KYLE WOOTTON

A Scunthorpe academy graduate, Kyle Wootton made his first team debut for the Irons in August 2014 aged just 17 and went on to play 78 times for the Club. Loan spells with Lincoln City, North Ferriby United, Cheltenham Town, Stevenage, FC Halifax Town and Notts County swamped his time at Glanford Park, before joining the latter on a permanent basis. It was with the Magpies where he began to establish himself, finishing the last two seasons as top scorer with 18 and 19 goals in respective seasons, whilst also picking up back-to-back Players’ Player of the Season awards along the way. The frontman has continued his form into the current campaign with 15 goals so far.

LAST TIME WE MET

Boreham Wood 1-1 Notts County
Tuesday 23rd November 2021
LV BET Stadium Meadow Park, Vanarama National League

A first half goal from Ruben Rodrigues was cancelled out by Tyrone Marsh to earn a valuable point in a well-contested affair with Notts County at the LV BET Stadium Meadow Park.

A quiet first half saw the visitors start on the front foot and enjoyed a lot of early possession, although they were unable to create a clear-cut chance. Once the Wood got a foothold of the game, they started to pin County back, with Marsh along with Scott Boden and Jamal Fyfield all having opportunities to open the scoring thwarted. It was County who did break the deadlock though with half-an-hour gone after their first venture into the Wood half for some time, as Rodrigues produced a bullet header to give Taye Ashby-Hammond no chance after getting on the end of a pinpoint Callum Roberts cross. This spurred County into life, with the Magpies enjoying the bulk of the possession for the remainder of the half while looking the more likely of the two sides to find the next goal.

The Wood made sure to start the second half with more energy and determination, however the introduction of Dennon Lewis really swung the match in the Wood’s favour as he started to open up the County defence, quickly causing havoc down the left-hand side.

This eventually resulted in Marsh finishing off a move to net a deserved equaliser for the Wood, and subsequently saw them grow in confidence even mpre. Although County looked dangerous on the break as the game entered its final stages, the referee soon signalled the end of well-fought affair with the two sides at a stalemate.