Boreham Wood 1 Whitehawk 3,
by John Mead.
Referee Leaves Allinson Seeing Red!
The decision to send off Sam Cox for a handball after 34 minutes ruined Wood’s chances of getting a result against a side battling for survival. The incident was beyond extremely questionable and left Wood Boss Ian Allinson fuming. A long throw in from the left was flicked on by a Whitehawk attacker across the goal mouth out to the edge of the six yard box. Cox misjudged his leap with the ball striking his arm mid air. The ball was already going away from goal and the nearest Whitehawk player would have needed to shoot through a body of players from a tight angle to have been denied a goal scoring opportunity.
However Mr Busby took the hard line which according to Allinson, “ Ruined the game for the spectators who had paid good money to see a fair game. It has also done the other teams battling for survival a huge disservice. Nobody would have questioned the penalty, but to reduce us to ten men was ridiculous.”
Until that point, Whitehawk, who have recently bolstered their squad with experience to attempt to stay in the League were fully committed to the cause. The visitors had obviously done their research, central defender Steven Robinson limited the chances of the lively Lee Angol, whilst Captain Tommy Fraser controlled the centre of the park after Cox’s dismissal.
Graeme Montgomery unleashed a thirty five yard shot that was inches high with just a minute played, before the hard working Junior Morias was stopped by a Tom Cadmore tackle.
The visitors had a good opportunity after 19 minutes. Kieran Forbes seized possession allowing Cadmore to play Dominic Green through on goal, his volley flying just wide of James Russell’s right hand post.
A moment of pure magic followed when Matty Whichelow produced a dummy which left three Hawks players red faced. He bore down on goal before finding space to curl a sumptuous effort just beyond the left hand angle.
Ben Nunn then played a lazy pass that was easily intercepted by substitute Jake Robinson who advanced before hitting the side netting with his effort.
Wood were lacking any real purpose and when the main cog in their engine was dismissed it made the task a somewhat uphill one. The decision itself was a bitter pill to swallow, made even harder by the fact that the build up to the play was from an offside decision against Morias from a ball that went back towards goal from a Whitehawk player!
Jake Robinson’s clinical penalty was added to just five minutes later. A foul by Greg Morgan led to a free kick on the right. The delivery was perfect for Cadmore who got up before Callum Reynolds to head home. Wood responded with a quick passing move, but Morias’ low shot was easily saved, leaving Allinson with a tough half time pep talk to his players.
The Hawks used their man advantage to great effect against Wood, who were forced off the wings and restricted to long balls into danger. Angol orchestrated a fine chance after 64 minutes with a controlled run, allowing Ricky Shakes to put a cross onto the head of Morias who unfortunately cleared the bar when well placed.
Montgomery then put Morias through with a fine ball over the defence, yet Chris Winterton got down smartly to push the low drive to safety.
With ten minutes remaining Allinson made two substitutions, yet a minute later it was game over when Danny Mills was afforded space to run into the box. Morgan tried to make an interception but the ball and player went separate ways. Green took over the penalty taking duties with Jake Robinson already withdrawn. The ball and Russell also went in different directions, giving the visitors a three goal lead.
On the stroke of ninety minutes Wood won a corner which Mario Noto delivered from the left. The Hawks defence failed to clear allowing Morias to blast home, the four minutes of additional time not enough to make any further impact on the scoreline.
In summary Ian Allinson felt, “ Sorry for the players who have done so well over the past few weeks. They were denied by a poor decision from the referee and you have to ask yourself what the end result would have been with eleven men still on the field. “
Team: Russell, Nunn, Morgan, Cox, Hill, Reynolds, Whichelow ( Noto 80), Shakes, Morias, Angol, Montgomery ( Pires 80).
Bookings: Cox sent off 34, Pires.
Goals: Boreham Wood: Morias 90.
Whitehawk: Jake Robinson 35 pen, Cadmore 40, Green 83 pen.
Man Of The Match: Junior Morias.
