A Final Stain On the Home Record.
The Skrill South.
Boreham Wood 0 Staines Town 2
by John Mead.
Wood stumbled to their third defeat in four games, meaning they are ending the League campaign in the same manner that they started it. This loss means for the second time in three days we have surrendered all six points to a rival.
Admittedly the business of staying up has been addressed, yet recent defeats against lowly Whitehawk and Hayes and Yeading United, plus today’s result against in form Town leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
Ian Allinson made changes ahead of our Herts Senior Cup Final this Wednesday, with James Courtnage giving James Russell a well earned rest between the sticks, whilst both Lee Angol and Graeme Montgomery were left on the bench.
Wood went close when Mario Noto fed Ben Nunn whose testing low cross was just missed by Matty Whichelow and Ricky Shakes. Then after 15 minutes Wood conceded . Max Worsfold sent a cross from the left high into the danger zone, where Dan Brown rose in between Callum Reynolds and Mark Jones to pick his spot with a decisive header.
Kudos Oyenuga saw his shot blocked by Lewis Ferrell with further shots from Whichelow and Oyenuga failing to trouble The Swans defence.
Greg Morgan operating in a more forward role than of late hit a fine effort from twenty five yards just wide that had Kyle Merson sprawling.
Wood were struggling to pick up Brown from set pieces and he found space for a free header from a left sided corner that Shakes did well to clip off the line. A minute later Nunn delivered another fine cross , this time finding Shakes who were it not for a superb reaction save would have been the celebrating the equaliser.
Merson really was The Swans hero first half and after 34 minutes he again pulled off a quite incredible stop. Whichelow provided for Shakes and he lashed the ball wide of the keeper from just yards out who somehow had the initiative to prevent the ball from crossing the line.
Wood returned from the interval with a renewed passion taking the game to the visitors. Josh Hill headed straight into the arms of Merson, whilst Jerel Ifill steadied the ship with a commanding display in the heart of the Town defence.
Whichelow continued to pay with a fervour and his diligence set up substitute Graeme Montgomery who shot just wide from inside the penalty area.
Errors began to creep into the Wood build up play and they let themselves down after 74 minutes. An innocuous cross from the right that would have ran out of play was badly dealt with due to the absence of any communication between keeper and defender. Reynolds headed back out allowing substitute Bajram Pashaj to bear down on goal curling a beautiful shot into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.
That was game over, with Wood failing to further penetrate a solid Staines defence. The game ran it’s course with the visitors worthy winners.
A disappointed Ian Allinson summarised, “ Our decision making was poor in the final third for the second game running. We work hard to create chances and let ourselves down. We made it very easy for Staines today gifting them two goals and we failed to reach the standard required, for which I take full responsibility. Our home record has been poor and continues to be so. We posted some very important wins recently and dropping more points shows again our lack of consistency.”
Team: Courtnage, Nunn, Jones ( Angol 62), Cox, Hill, Reynolds, Chakes, Noto ( Montgomery 45), Oyenuga ( Pires 80), Morgan, Whichelow.
Subs not used: Garrard, Russell.
Bookings: Noto.
Goals: Staines Town: Brown 15, Pashaj 74.
Wood Man Of The Match: Matty Whichelow.
