WOOD BUZZING AT THE HIVE
Barnet 0 – 1 Boreham Wood
Saturday 16th October 3:00pm
The Hive, Emirates FA Cup – Fourth qualifying round
In a tight and often uneventful encounter at The Hive, a second half goal from Will Evans was enough to give Boreham Wood a place in the First Round of the FA Cup for the eighth time in the last ten seasons, spurred on by 651 travelling supporters.
Luke Garrard named an unchanged line up following last week’s fantastic victory and performance against Dagenham & Redbridge but fit again skipper Mark Ricketts was able to take his place on the bench. Apart from a first minute Sam Hall free kick going over Nathan Ashmore’s goal, it was pretty much all played in Barnet’s half early on. Kane Smith had Wood’s first chance on five minutes, but Aston Oxborough made a straight forward save from his shot. Soon afterwards, Tyrone Marsh shot over the bar when well placed. On thirteen minutes a Kane Smith cross appeared to strike the hand of a Barnet defender in the penalty area, but the referee was having none of it. As the half wore on, the home side got more into the game and Barnet had some good possession leading in to half time. Ephron Mason-Clark was a real threat in this period, Following an excellent run and shot by Mason-Clark on the half hour mark, he proved a good save from Ashmore, Then Joe Widdowson, headed into the side netting for the hosts. Soon afterwards, Mason-Clark’s goal bound effort was blocked by Jamal Fyfield. Mason Bloomfield then headed wide for the Bees.
Boreham Wood started the second half, back in the ascendancy when Jacob Mendy Mendy shot over the bar before Frankie Raymond struck his effort wide. On fifty-two minutes an excellent move involving Scott Boden and Kane Smith created a chance for Josh Rees who headed wide at the end of a lovely flowing move. On the hour mark Boreham Wood took the lead. A powerful Will Evans header hit the crossbar before ricocheting off the post before going in off keeper Oxborough. This produced a jubilant reaction from the players and the travelling Wood Army who quite frankly, didn’t care how it went in. Evans could have doubled Wood’s lead three minutes later, but Oxborough was equal to it on this occasion. Soon afterwards, Kane Smith’s shot went just wide. Barnet had a chance to equalise on eight minutes, but Adam Marriott couldn’t get his shot on target when well placed. That was as good as it got for the hosts and Wood were able to hold on comfortably much to the delight of the travelling support.
Boreham Wood weren’t at their best at The Hive but did just enough to win. The defence, well marshalled by the outstanding Will Evans was rock solid and even though chances were hard to come by for Wood, they never really looked like conceding.
Barnet: Oxborough, Thomas, Richards-Everton, Hall (Marriott 70), Brundle, Powell (Bloomfield 12), Mason-Clark, Flanagan (Fonguck 70), Taylor, Widdowson, Wood.
Subs not used: Azaze, Greenidge, Granville, Tasdemir.
Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Ilesamni, Evans, Fyfield, Mendy Mendy, K Smith, Mafuta, Rees (Stephens 92), Raymond (Ricketts 64) Boden (Clifton 92), Marsh.
Subs not used: Green, Munns, C Smith.
Star Man: Will Evans.
Match report written by Wood Army member Brett Lewis.
