Notts County v Boreham Wood
Tuesday 8th December 2020, 7.45pm
Meadow Lane, Vanarama National League
THE CONTEXT
Tonight, Wood make the trip to Nottingham where we match up against Notts County in the Vanarama National League at Meadow Lane.
The Magpies hosted Woking in their recent fixture and talisman Kyle Wootton was on the scoresheet to secure a 1-0 victory for his side.
Whereas Wood travelled to Hartlepool, but similarly came away from the game with all three points, thanks to a Gus Mafuta brace against his old side to secure a 2-1 victory.
THE FORM GUIDE
THE WOOD
Previous six games (in all competitions): –
Hartlepool (A) | VNL | 1-2 W
Canvey Island (A) | FAC | 0-3 W
Altrincham (H) | VNL | 0-1 L
Bromley (A) | VNL | 1-1 D
Torquay United (A) | VNL | 1-1 D
Dagenham & Redbridge (H) | VNL |0-1 L
Wood followed up from Monday nights heroics in the Emirates FA Cup with an impressive 2-1 away victory against Hartlepool on Saturday.
Summer signing Gus Mafuta opened the scoring against his former club in the 36th minute after Wood dominated the early stages of the game.
However, it did not take long before the Pools grabbed a leveller when Mason Bloomfield scored on the brink of half-time.
Mafuta was having arguably having his best game in a Wood shirt and it got even better in the 68th minute when he picked the ball up from range, shifted the ball onto his left foot and unleashed a wonder strike to find the back of the net.
Garrard will be hoping that this impressive victory will be the kickstart to the season that his side has needed.
THE MAGPIES
Previous six games (in all competitions): –
Woking (H) | VNL | 1-0 W
Dagenham & Redbridge (A) | VNL | 0-0 D
Wealdstone (H) | VNL | 3-0 W
Chesterfield (A) | VNL | 2-3 W
FC Halifax Town (A) | VNL | 1-1 D
Aldershot Town (A) | VNL | 0-1 L
The Magpies currently sit in 3rd place of the Vanarama National League and have lost just three times in their opening 11 fixtures.
The ex-Football League giants come into this fixture unbeaten in their previous five league games and have not conceded a goal in their previous three.
Only five teams have scored more than the Magpies so far this season and Kyle Wootton is the joint fourth top scorer in the division.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
“THE DESTROYER”
BEN TURNER
Ben Turner started his senior footballing career at Coventry and made his professional debut in 2006.
The Central Defender spent six years with the Sky Blues and went on loan to Peterborough United and Oldham Athletic before signing a permanent deal with Cardiff City in 2011.
Turner has Premier League experience to his name after he won the Championship in the 2012/13 seaosn with the Bluebirds.
2016 saw Turner part ways with the Bluebirds and signing a deal with Championship side Burton Albion.
Turner then signed for the Magpies in 2019 but has struggled for regular game time due to several injuries. However, the experienced defender did feature for his side in both the Semi-Final and Final of the 2019/20 National League play-offs.
“THE PLAYMAKER”
JAKE REEVES
Reeves came through the youth system at Tottenham Hotspur before signing his first professional contract with Brentford in 2011.
The Central Midfielder featured 34 times for Brentford along with being on loan at St Albans City and AFC Wimbledon, as he searched for first team experience.
In 2014 Reeves put pen to paper and signed a deal with Swindon Town but just a season later he re-signed for AFC Wimbledon.
After making over 100 appearances for the Dons, in 2017 Reeves moved on and signed for Bradford City.
Reeves then signed for the Magpies at the start of this season and was reunited with manager Neal Ardley after the pairing had great success with the Dons after they gained promoted to League 2 in 2016.
“THE FINISHER”
KYLE WOOTTON
Wootton started his senior career with Scunthorpe United in 2014 and went on to make over 60 first team appearances.
During his time at Scunthorpe, Wootton went on loan to six different clubs, namely: Lincoln City, North Ferriby United, Cheltenham Town, Stevenage, Halifax Town, and Notts County.
The forward’s most successful loan spell was with his current club and in last seasons campaign he was the Magpies top goal scorer with 18 goals.
The deal was made permanent at the start of the 2020/21 season and he has started the campaign in fine form scoring six goals so far.
LAST TIME WE MET
Notts County 2-2 Boreham Wood
Tuesday 26th November 2019
Meadow Lane, Vanarama National League
Justin Shaibu opened the scoring in the 15th minute for Wood when he headed home Kane Smith’s perfectly weighted cross.
Just 15 minutes later the scoring was levelled when Kyle Wootton continued his goal soring form making it 1-1.
The Magpies then took the lead just before half-time which was the third headed goal of the game, meaning the score going into the break was 2-1 to the guests.
There was late drama at Meadow Lane when Connell Rawlinson was sent off for a foul on Tshimanga in the box and Sorba Thomas struck home from the spot meaning the points were shared.
PRE-MATCH WORDS
STAY HOME, STAY SAFE
HOW TO WATCH
Unfortunately, this game is behind closed doors meaning no fans will be allowed to attend this fixture. However, Notts County will be live streaming the match you can BUY YOURS HERE
LIVE UPDATES
Alternatively, you can keep up with the action via our Twitter and Instagram pages, where there will be regular updates throughout the course of the match.
Instagram: @boreham_woodfc
Twitter: @boreham_woodfc
OUR CLUB. OUR TOWN. OUR COMMUNITY.
Match Preview written by Joe Karadzas (Press Assistant)
