by John Mead.
Wood head into a difficult make or break festive programme with a trip to 2nd place Forest Green Rovers first up this Saturday.
A double header against high flying Braintree Town plus a trip to Woking complete the schedule.
Luke Garrard knows the task facing his side, who currently occupy a relegation berth, with all the teams around them having games in hand, is one not to be taken lightly; “ I have told the players how many points we need from these four tough games. We are not in this League as also rans and the team have to respond accordingly”.
Performances have warranted a better points return, but with the influential loan signing Clovis Kamdjo not allowed to play against his parent club, the task of picking up points at
The New Lawn Stadium, where only Gateshead and Tranmere Rovers have left with maximum points, remains an ominous one.
Rewinding back to August, Wood enjoyed a fine performance against the Green Devils, losing out by the only goal of the game, scored by Kurtis Guthrie, after hitting the woodwork three times.
That win formed part of Rovers’ 9 game winning streak that catapulted them to the top of the table. Guthrie, who was part of the Welling United side that gained promotion to the Conference National has found the net on 7 occasions in the League, one less than Jon Parkin, who did not feature in the reverse fixture at Meadow Park.
“The Beast” has not shunned success throughout his career. After helping Stoke City gain promotion to the Premiership, he aided Preston North End in reaching the Championship play offs, before joining Fleetwood Town in time to earn them a promotion into Division One, via the play offs.
However Aaron O’Connor is keeping The Beast at bay with his return of 9 goals making him top scorer. O’Connor has tasted both success and failure at Wembley, being part of a beaten play off final side with Luton Town, before returning a year later to score in Newport County’s 2-0 win over Wrexham.
The Green Devils are currently 3 points off the summit, with a game in hand over fellow Gloucestershire side Cheltenham Town. Their 1-1 draw at the World Of Smile Stadium in front of 5449 fans in a game dubbed as El Glosico, may well prove crucial come the end of the season.
Forest Green Rovers v Boreham Wood.
New Lawn Stadium,
Another Way,
Nailsworth.
GL6 0FG
Saturday December 19th, kick off 3pm.
