Wood leave Magpies Shakin' all over

The start of March has seen the return of the annual Maidenhead United spring slump with the prospect of a relegation fight growing with each defeat. The visits of Whitehawk and Boreham Wood promised to be nothing less than difficult. Last Saturday the Sussex club, perhaps scarred by a defeat in the reverse fixture by the odd goal in seven back in October, set themselves up to give nothing away, relying on their ability to counter attack at speed. This approach worked perfectly with two breakaways leading to two goals (the latter by way of a corner) and the game was won by half time. They were every bit the professional outfit in the second half, completely suffocating Maidenhead's attacking play, with Sergio Torres throwing himself to the floor with alacrity to raise my blood pressure.

Boreham Wood have a much more laudable method to building success than their big spending promotion chasing rivals from Sussex. The previous week someone tapped me on the shoulder, asking to look at the teamsheet. It turned out he was a Crawley fan and together with David Hunt playing for the Magpies, reportedly half a dozen Red Devils were on show, which perhaps explains their imminent slide back to the basement division of the Football League and Whitehawk's high placing.

Wood on the other hand run on a much more sustainable model, clever too, employing players as coaches on their various academy/PASE schemes, with I guess the contract including a requirement to turn out for the first team. Just a shame they don't do so much work in the local community to boost crowds to watch their stylish team. The reverse fixture in Hertfordshire was probably the best I have seen in the division all season, end to end stuff, with Maidenhead denied at the last, as indeed they were the last time the clubs met at York Road with the only goal of the game coming in stoppage time.

Sadly history repeated itself again yesterday with a valiant Maidenhead performance unable to overcome the ever vigilant goalkeeping of Wood's James Russell. The introduction of Junior Morias and Matthew Whichelow midway through the second half being the catalyst to tip the balance in favour of the visitors with a late goal taking all three points, delivering on Ian Allinson's plan, which he revealed to me after the game, to win ugly.

Maidenhead were much more potent than last Saturday, which was probably due to the return from injury of Adrian Clifton, whose presence in an attacking midfield position always seems to give the team an extra bit of oomph going forward. Clifton was the creator of Maidenhead's best chance, which came in the third minute when his driving run on the left hand side of the penalty areas drew defenders towards him, giving Tyrell Miller-Rodney the space to set himself for a shot on the edge of the six yard box which was brilliantly blocked by Russell.

Wood shook off this early scare to dominate the first half but despite sending a succession of first rate balls across the face of the Maidenhead goal, did not unduly trouble Ashley Timms, aside from a Daryl McMahon effort which Timms pushed round the post. This left the referee as the centre of attention, his decisions, whilst not game changing, certainly raising the ire of the spectators.

After the break, Wood continued where they had left off, Timms again saving well from McMahon, but the Magpies soon got on the front foot, enjoying their best spell of the game. Rodney again forced a good save from Russell around the hour mark so visiting manager Allinson decided it was time unleash his talent from the bench sending Morias and Whichelow into the fray in the games' final third.

With nine minutes to go Wood swiftly counter attacked, Lee Angol playing in Morias on goal. Timms rushed out to make a good save, but the ball ran loose and Ricky Shakes pounced on it to score. There was time left for United to salvage something from the game and deep into stoppage time, Timms joined the attack, floating a free kick deep to the far post. Tarpey eluded his marker to get a shot in but Russell was equal to it to seal the win for the visitors.

The defeat leaves the Magpies wondering where the next point will come from, a first ever win required over Concord on Tuesday night ahead of daunting trips to Ebbsfleet and Chelmsford.

Magpies knock on Wood

As always the Conference god of fixtures decreed that United's trip to Boreham Wood would be on a Monday night, but here the similarities with previous years ended. Usually what happens at Meadow Park is that the Magpies get a toehold in the game early on before comfortably succumbing to a superior Wood team in front of a crowd struggling to reach three figures. However tonight this was far from the case as Maidenhead did enough to win the game and even came close to rescuing a point after the home team had overturned the deficit. For once the official attendance of 256 felt accurate, with although it seems few locals coming out to see their team defend their position at the top of the table, the fact that it was one of the only games on attracting plenty of groundhoppers. For example at the station on the way back I met two season ticket holders from Leyton Orient, a group of seven Norwegians on a week's trip of English football grounds, in addition to the Bracknell fan I'd met in the ground.

Wood's position as front runners is testament to their tightly run operation. They are very much a football business with their own academy and well oiled links with professional clubs such as Arsenal, Reading and Luton. This has ensured a steady flow of talent into a small but effective squad with one loanee from  Lee Angol going on to score the vital equaliser. 

Good, but not as good as ours

As well as having playing staff of the requisite standard, the pitch has always been of top quality and this is now looked over by an impressive new stand which is almost as good as the one at York Road. Even though they have built it, still they don't come. Surely the missing piece in the Boreham Wood jigsaw is a support worthy of a club bidding to take their place in the Conference Premier. Perhaps the £13 entry (inclusive of a £2.50 programme which ran out before kick off) is a deterrent. With no concession for students there is one market segment lost. Certainly the town's population seem ripe for plucking from the bosom of the bigger clubs they doubtless follow giving the current climate surrounding pro clubs and value for money.

Still the welcome from all at the Wood is friendly enough, the barman kindly changing the channel at my request so we could watch the FA Cup draw, his customer service skills then being rewarded by the bloke behind me who offered "one for yourself" after ordering two coffees.

As expected the game began at a high tempo with both sides giving everything to win the game throughout. Both sides had chances to take the lead as the first half drew on. Adrian Clifton had a great chance to open the scoring for United but goalkeeper James Russell did not commit himself to the last second and was able to palm the shot wide. At the other end Will Britt made a good save from Junior Morias and then had Devante McKain to thank for clearing a Callum Reynolds effort off the line. 

With seven minutes to go to the break, Dave Tarpey received the ball in space on the left, ignoring claims of offside to fire the ball home in his trademark style to give Maidenhead the lead. Britt then earned his half time cup of tea by tipping a Matthew Whichelow long range shot over the bar.

Maidenhead started the second half determined to justify their lead and just ahead of the hour mark had a chance to double it as Clifton burst clear through the middle only to be denied once more by Russell. The swift wing play of Morias and Whichelow then started to wear United down. A couple of crosses across the face of the Maidenhead goal served notice that Wood were not going to settle for a defeat and with fourteen minutes remaining Angol converted one from Whichelow at close range to equalise. The goal was Angol's eleventh in fourteen appearances, a remarkable transformation given his uncertain spell at York Road a year ago.

Showing no side effects of playing two games in three days, Wood now pushed for a winner, Morias hitting the post and Ricky Shakes having a shot tipped wide by Britt. Maidenhead still harboured ideas of taking all three points though and it proved to be this ambition that was their undoing as from a Magpie corner, Wood counterattacked, the ball finding Morias on the left wing.  He just about stayed on his feet following a desperate challenge from Tarpey and then regained his composure to cut inside and score.

With three minutes remaining Maidenhead did all they could to rescue a deserved point from the game and deep into stoppage time Russell again proved his worth with a tremendous last ditch save from substitute Sam Barratt.

Maidenhead left the field then beaten but unbowed. They had matched the league leaders for ninety minutes and can consider themselves unfortunate to take nothing from the game. Wood on the other hand had shown with their persistently high quality attacking play that they are made of the stuff of champions. The highlights of the game would have been a great video to market their talents but I doubt if even the most loyal of supporters will pay the £4 requested to watch them.

Every Second Counts...

Following Saturday's sucker punch by Bath the immediate worry was whether the team would be able to pick themselves up for two midweek relegation six pointers. This did not prove to be a problem as the Magpies created enough chances to win both games but instead continued to fail to maintain concentration and latterly energy to the end, being punished with late goals in the 93rd and 89th minute which saw Boreham Wood and Gosport Borough snatch three points at the death.

Both defeats were hard to take as a mere spectator and one can only speculate about the impact on dressing room morale with essentially the bottom nine clubs relatively even and set to play roughly the final quarter of the season over the next six weeks.

Against Boreham Wood, Maidenhead appeared to initially miss Tyrell Miller-Rodney in the base of midfield, with Adrian Clifton moving back to cover the Brentford loan player, Reece Tison-Lascaris taking Clifton's forward role.There was little to choose between the two clubs in the first half, Harry Grant going closest to opening the scoring with a curling short which almost deceived goalkeeper James Russell.

After the break Boreham Wood tested Elvijs Putnins, the Latvian goalkeeper tipping a Graeme Montgomery shot over the bar, punching a Loick Pires shot away, before combining with Mark Niset to deny Kudus Oyenuga.

The last quarter of the game though was dominated by the Magpies with only a man of the match performance by Russell denying them the lead. Just past the hour mark Russell managed to get his fingertips to a Danny Green strike to deflect it past the post. Then with twenty minutes remaining Russell produced a superb reaction save to deny Grant from close range, then from the resulting corner tipped a Harry Pritchard effort onto the bar. In the last minute Grant had a great opportunity to win the game but couldn't apply a decent contact to the ball so as the game entered stoppage time it looked like the Magpies would have to settle for a point.

Frustratingly though with just seconds left on the clock a Putnins clearance was intercepted by Junior Morias and he ran clear to score and spark delirious scenes on the Boreham Wood bench.

This painful memory was somewhat soothed within three minutes of the start of Thursday's match against Gosport Borough, when Clifton, back in his advanced role thanks to the return of Miller-Rodney, finished from close range to score Maidenhead's first goal at York Road since Boxing Day. The goal naturally proved a real boost to the Magpies and they looked good for their lead in the opening stages of the game. Twice though they failed to take advantage of goalscoring opportunities when the Borough defence stopped in anticipation of an offside flag, the chance to play on seemingly as much a surprise to the Maidenhead players. With the pause causing the forward momentum lost, Grant and Tison-Lascaris squandered the chances and as the half drew on Gosport began to threaten.

Before the half time whistle blew Rory Williams shot over the bar when well placed, whilst United's loan full back Brett Longden had to clear another effort off the line.

In the second half Maidenhead showed plenty of forward intent but could not create a chance to consolidate their lead and a Gosport equaliser began to look inevitable. Borough were increasingly making inroads into the United penalty area with booming cross field balls either from open play or set pieces. These were often met by headers and it was in this fashion that Luke Bennett, who had only returned on loan from Poole the previous day, equalised with half an hour to go.

As the game went on the Magpies increasingly showed signs of fatigue in their third game in six days, and as the clock entered the closing minutes there was an inevitability about the final score which was settled in the final minute when Bennett scored his second brace of the week with a tremendous strike from the edge of the penalty area.

Three defeats of this nature in quick succession can only cast aspersions on Maidenhead's ability to retain their Conference South status. At best there was an opportunity to put daylight between the Magpies and the relegation zone and at worst three draws would have at least maintained the status quo. Instead United need to reboot their season once again to secure 16 points out of the last 36 available to have any confidence of staying out of the bottom three.

Tuesday night and the gates are low

When this season's fixture list was issued one home game stood out for all the wrong reasons, a midweek game in February against the worst supported club in the division. Add in live football on free to air television, and gridlock on the surrounding arterial roadways and a season low gate was inevitable, but the 178 aficionados who it made to York Road were well rewarded for their loyalty with a superb Maidenhead United performance to beat promotion chasing Boreham Wood.

The traffic problems forced the kick off back to 8 pm but it was worth the wait as with just a minute on the clock David Pratt returned a weak James Russell clearance to Alex Wall, who shrugged off the attentions of a defender before blasting the ball past the keeper. The early strike signalled the start of Maidenhead's best first half this season as they set up camp in the Wood half whilst comfortably dealing with any counter attack.

Only the crossbar prevented Pratt from doubling the lead with an acrobatic volley from a Harry Pritchard free kick, leaving Wood at sixes and sevens, assistant manager Luke Garrard taking advantage of a starting place to dish out forthright reminders about his team mates shortcomings face to face.

On Saturday Maidenhead were made to pay for not making their first half dominance count but this was not the case last night as the Magpies made it 2-0 in the 27th minute with yet another goal from a free kick. This time though the scorer was Daniel Brown rather than Wall as the midfielder's strike deflected off the wall to loop over the hapless keeper's head and sail into the back of the net.

Goal!

Both sides then proved there was more to their game than luck when Wall connected with a delightful cross from Leon Solomon to lash the ball goalward at point blank range only for Russell to throw himself across the face of the goal to pull off a brilliant save. All this excitement coupled with a slug from Timmy Mallett's hip flask served to warm the cockles on a cold night.

The half time break provided the visitors with breathing space to formulate a response to United's goals and it was no surprise that they turned to the veteran striker Cliff Akurang on the bench. Although Maidenhead felt aggrieved not to get a penalty when Wall was hauled to the ground, the main action continued to take place at the York Stream end as Wood put the young centreback pairing of Alfie Mawson and Devante McKain under ever increasing pressure. However apart from a shot tipped over the bar by Billy Lumley, the defence held firm leaving me feeling comfortable to make an unimaginable early exit with five minutes remaining confident that Maidenhead would see out the win. Boreham Wood did find the net with what was reportedly the last kick of the game but the way the Magpie defence in the second half matched the Magpie attack of the first meant three points were secure at what is fast becoming an unfamiliarly fortress like York Road.

Ash saves Wood

There aren't many footballing spectacles that are less appealing than a midweek trip to Boreham Wood on a freezing January evening but the lingering buzz of the win against Chelmsford coupled with a convenient journey direct from Elephant & Castle to Elstree meant I was Hertfordshire bound.

The Wood have continued to develop what must be the best non league facility off the pitch particularly for the players, which when coupled with audacious plans for a second large seated stand with a TV gantry it is clear they are building for the future, but still despite the ground's location in the middle of a residential area, the fans do not come. This is even more puzzling given the team's excellent form, with the 200 who did go on Wednesday night treated to an entertaining incident packed match.

With the pitch already white with frost the game kicked off at a frenetic pace, the play oscillating from end to end. Maidenhead took an early in the sixteenth minute when Daniel Brown jinked his way into the penalty area and fired home from a tight angle.With the Magpies losing Harry Pritchard to injury soon after the goal, the home team gradually took control of the game as the pace slackened a little. Wood looked the more comfortable team on the ball whilst the Magpies seemed a little too hasty to get rid of it particularly when under pressure.

At the rare times the action subsided entertainment was provided by Boreham Wood coach Luke Garrard (above left) who kept up a steady stream of tragi comic shouts from the dugouts. The equaliser arrived eight minutes ahead of half time when Luke Norris tapped in an inswinging corner. Wood had the ball in the net again before the interval but the goal was disallowed for offside.
After the break Maidenhead looked to be getting back into the game when Boreham Wood scored what proved to be the winner, a long ball straight down the middle of the pitch finding Norris who nonchalantly lobbed Billy Lumley to score.
Maidenhead still looked like they had a goal in them though, an Alex Wall shot being deflected wide after a great move. A triple Wood substitution revealed that the Cliff Akurang fan club was sitting on my right when the veteran striker entered the fray and the Magpies were then given hope when one of the Wood centre
back continued to play despite being in apparent distress from an injury.
With seven minutes left though the game was nearly over for both teams when the referee pulled up but after a short delay it was revealed that United's favourite referee Ash Denagrin was in the crowd and he quickly changed to run the line. Unfortunately he wasn't able to inspire the Magpies to another goal and in the eleven minutes that remained it was Wood who came nearest to adding to the score when they caught Lumley up the pitch for a corner only to Akurang to miss an open goal.

Dead Wood

The slow but inevitable demise of Thurrock as the Conference South's purveyor of joyless efficient football witnessed by next to no one has left a vacancy, with two possible candidates to fill it, Maidenhead United and Boreham Wood. 

The contestants went into yesterday's game level on points, cut adrift with Thurrock at the bottom of the attendance table with the Wood stone last, a somewhat surprising statistic given their facilities and chairman's conceit for their marketing strategy.

The game promised to be a tight affair. With both sides looking to quickly move the ball forward into the final third to maximise opportunities for scoring, it was clear that defensive discipline would be paramount. So it proved that after holding out against Maidenhead's early attacking promise, two goals midway through the first half for Boreham Wood effectively decided a game tainted by an inept refereeing performance.

This early spell of dominance was as good as it got for Maidenhead, a Leon Solomon drive being tipped over the bar and in the Magpie move of the game Bobby Behzadi running the length of the pitch before being denied by a last ditch challenge.

This initial effort proved fruitless when David Bryant volleyed home the opening goal, despite being deemed offside by reporters from either side's local newspaper.With the Maidenhead defence still stung by conceding they afforded Omer Riza the time and the space to fashion a delightful chip to double the lead within three minutes.

As the game drew on the main feature became the woefully inconsistent performance by the referee who steadily crumbled in the face of constant berating by the Boreham Wood players. Matters came to a head in the second half when as Maidenhead showed the intent to get back into the game, Wood successfully broke the game up by fashioning a series of controversial incidents starting with a soft challenge to the chest by Alex Wall on goalkeeper Elvijs Putnins which saw the stopper roll around on the ground until Wall was booked. Later a more severe body check on Solomon saw no such sanction. Still the Maidenhead pressure at least started to rattle Wood when chief yahoos Charlie O'Loughlin and Mario Noto started arguing with their own bench.

The introduction of all three Maidenhead substitutes upped the pace a little but still the Magpies could not conjure up a chance to seriously test Putnins and with the points looking destined for Hertfordshire it was left to the referee to lead the game to its nadir.

With time ticking away O'Loughlin clearly tripped a Maidenhead player, a foul as deserving of a yellow card as any of the others in the game. As the referee called him over the penny dropped that this would be a second card for the defender and so with the help of Captain Noto he successfully hectored the weak official into giving him one more chance.

All there was left was for an all at sea Maidenhead defence to concede a third goal, Osei Sankofa taking advantage of the wide open spaces in the United penalty area to score.

The result leaves Maidenhead anxiously looking ahead at a seriously difficult fixture list for the rest of the season, an outcome of the ridiculous way it was planned in the summer. The unscheduled winter break was clearly unhelpful and a tricky seven days follows with trips to promotion chasing Chesham in the County Cup on Tuesday followed by table topping Woking next Saturday. 

The team is crying out for creativity in the midfield as the defence is unable to maintain the discipline and concentration required to regularly achieve the clean sheets which are necessary to complement the sides parsimonious forward play.

As for Boreham Wood, their ugly use of gamesmanship, particularly with regard to the treatment of officials is unlikely to lift them off the bottom of the attendance league despite being based in the middle of a housing estate. Still with his desire to constantly discuss the laws of the game, a career as a referee clearly beckons for Charlie O'Loughlin.

Clone Club

Back to Boreham Wood for the first time in over a decade last Saturday, with the memory of a Barry Rake strike on my last visit against then tenants Enfield still vivid in my mind.  On paper it had the makings of a good day out.  An easy journey to the edge of zone 6 by train, then a gentle stroll down the high street to the functional ground.  Maybe events on the pitch have coloured my view but this felt like a trip to mediocre Britain.  The high street was as good a representation of a clone town as you could imagine, with the glimpse of the Eastenders set in a side street hardly lifting the mood with its gloomy aura of faux misery.  A biting north wind made the view of the final destination a welcome sight, and on the face of it the club itself had much to offer with a bar handily placed next to the tea bar.  The fact that it was deserted save for the odd travelling Magpie started to peel back the veneer of functionality to reveal a desperate empty vessel.  Moving into the board room, again this was impressively arranged, with neat modernist furniture set off by some imitation Pollock prints, with the toilets alone bigger than the facilities at York Road and yet I felt like I was about to attend a funeral.

As for the game a video would I guess have seemed quite entertaining with six goals and plenty of near misses, a mini Magpie comeback from 2-0 down before Ian Allinson got to work in the dressing room to inspire his much changed Boreham Wood side to a barnstorming second half which left no doubt where the points were heading. But this was all witnessed by a sparse crowd strung out around the smart stadium, whilst presumably the thousands of inhabitants of the dwellings surrounding it got on with their lives.  Sad to see a club which is so evidently well run missing the human ingredient that makes a football club - passionate supporters.