MATCH REPORT: WATFORD (H)

Boreham Wood 0 – 0 Watford
Wednesday 5th July 2023
Meadow Park, Pre season friendly

Valuable minutes for both teams were provided as we welcomed Watford to Meadow Park to open our pre season.

The Wood started on the front foot and looked sharp in the opening exchanges. The first shot however came from the Hornets when Vakoun Bayo tried his luck from the edge of the area only to have his effort blocked by Jamal Fyfield.

Three debutants were on display in the first half including Tom Whelan, Timmy Abraham and the return of former Wood player Angelo Balanta. Balanta who was playing in the 10 role was constantly running in behind causing issues for the Hornets defense. On the 10th minute the ball was played over the top down the right hand side which Angelo got on the end of, he managed to cut the ball back to Tyrone Marsh who was waiting at the back post. He controlled the ball before firing goalwards however the experience of Austria’s number 1 Daniel Bachmann meant that he was able to close down and smother Marsh’s effort to deny the best chance of the game so far.

Watford grew into the game and on several occasions as their quality was for all to see. In the 13th minute Matheus Martin’s showed some impressive skill to play the ball into the path of Morris who fired wide of Ashmore’s right post. Another big chance fell to the Hornets on the 37th minute when Vakoun Bayo produced an impressive turn on the edge of the area to create space before blasting his effort way over the bar.

Some concern for Garrard on the 41st minute as he was forced into an early change after David Stephens went down injured, he was replaced by Cameron Coxe which saw the Wood transition into 4 at the back which continued into the second half. Luke Garrard commented on Stephens injury during his post match interview in which he said, “We think he’s jarred his achilles, at the time we were more fearful that it was a deeper achilles issue but thankfully that’s not the case.”

HT: BOREHAM WOOD 0-0 WATFORD 

Garrard made two changes at the break, introducing Mo Sagaf for the first time in a Wood shirt for Angelo Balanta and Lee Ndlovu for Timmy Abraham.

Watford started the second half much more aggressive and was starting to show the Championship quality they possess, the biggest chance of the game came during the 51st minute when Hungbo found some space on the edge of the area and fired his effort off the left post, the rebound fell to the feet of Baah who tried to take the follow up effort first time but fired wide of the goal. Not even 5 minutes later Hungbo drove into the Woods area and looked to bend an effort into the bottom left hand corner, but he was once again denied by the left post this time the ball landed safely and the Wood were able to clear.

Three more changes were made to ensure all the squad were gaining valuable minutes. Chris Bush replaced Jamal Fyfield on the 62nd minute and 2 trialists were introduced on the 75th minute replacing Marsh and Whelan.

The game seemed to fizzle out towards the end of the game with Watford enjoying the majority of the ball and looking like the most likely team to score. However in true Boreham Wood fashion the defense stayed resilient  and showed why they only conceded 40 goals in the league last year not allowing Watford to break the deadlock.

The Full time whistle was blown with both teams getting a good run out and building important fitness ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

FT: BOREHAM WOOD 0-0 WATFORD

A big thank you to Watford for coming down to Meadow Park and we hope you enjoyed your visit, good luck for the season ahead.

Luke Garrard’s post match reaction can be watched in full by clicking here.

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