Boreham Wood v Brentford
Saturday 9th July 2022, 3.00pm
LV BET Stadium Meadow Park, Pre-Season Friendly
THE CONTEXT
At long last, football is making its return as the Wood host Premier League outfit Brentford to kick-off their pre-season campaign ahead of the 2022/23 National League season.
The Bees enjoyed a successful maiden season in the top flight of English football after their promotion in 2021, with Thomas Frank guiding the club to survival with a comfortable 13th place finish.
Wood meanwhile will be keen to improve on their previous campaign, with a spot in the play-offs hopefully up for grabs after they fell to a ninth place finish last season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
“THE DESTROYER”
PONTUS JANSSON
After beginning his career at Arlövs BI, Pontus Jansson later moved to Malmö FF and enjoyed five successful years at the Eleda Stadion. His form resulted in a move to Torino in 2014, but he found regular football hard to come by and opted to join Marcelo Bielsa’s project at Leeds United. He quickly established himself as one of the best defenders in the Championship, and a move to Brentford came to fruition after the Whites’ play-off semi-final defeat in 2019. Coming in immediately as club captain, Jansson has been crucial at the heart of the Bees’ defence.
“THE PLAYMAKER”
SERGI CANOS
A graduate of the Liverpool academy, Sergi Canos initially began his career in his native Spain where he was spotted by Barcelona whilst playing for local club Nules, spending three years at La Masia before making the move to England at the age of 16. He would make just a single appearance for the Reds but found success on loan at Brentford during the 2015/16 season, with fellow Championship outfit Norwich City subsequently announcing his arrival at Carrow Road on a permanent basis. His time in Norfolk would prove less successful, and a return to Griffin Park came to fruition in January 2017 where the Spain youth international has featured almost 250 times.
“THE FINISHER”
IVAN TONEY
Despite coming through the ranks at Northampton Town, Toney is perhaps best known for his spell at Newcastle United. Specifically, what could have been. Six loan spells with Barnsley, Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe United and Wigan Athletic failed to pull up many trees, and he was soon allowed to leave on a permanent basis. A move to Peterborough United saw him net 49 times over two seasons, with Brentford deeming him the perfect Ollie Watkins replacement in 2020, and the 26-year old would smash home 33 goals in all competitions to fire Brentford into the Premier League.
LAST TIME WE MET
Boreham Wood 0-2 Brentford
Tuesday 20th July 2021
LV BET Stadium Meadow Park, Pre-Season Friendly
The Wood enjoyed an entertaining contest with Premier League new boys Brentford as goals either side of half time gave the visitors the victory.
The Bees were limited to few chances during the opening stages as the Wood gave a good account of themselves, with Sergi Canos testing Nathan Ashmore after six minutes. Shandon Baptiste would go close himself twice in the space of a few minutes as the visitors looked to show their quality and get a foothold of the game, which they managed through star man Ivan Toney. It was the former Peterborough United man who broke the deadlock with a wonderful curling effort that showed why he was able to break Glenn Murray’s record of most goals in a single Championship season.
The hosts hit back with two chances for Will Evans but David Raya was equal to the first before he headed the second wide. The visitors continued to dominate proceedings into the second half, although Jacob Mendy Mendy nearly gave the Wood a shock equaliser when his strike from distance was saved by Patrik Gunnarsson shortly before Kabongo Tshimanga came even closer to levelling the score. The Bees did manage to double their lead though with Tarique Fosu hammering home Dominic Thompson’s inch perfect centre, ensuring a comfortable margin that saw the Wood hold out for an honourable defeat.
HOW TO WATCH
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