Boreham Wood 1-1 Gateshead
Saturday 2nd March 2024, 3:00 pm
Mangata Pay UK Stadium Meadow Park, Vanarama National League
Boreham Wood were forced to made do with a point due to a ninety-fifth minute Dajaune Brown in a match where they were in truth, second best. However, it looked like a first half goal from Kabs Tshimanga was going to be enough for all three points for Boreham Wood.
Luke Garrard made one change from last Saturday’s 4-0 win against AFC Fylde with Cameron Coxe replacing the injured Erico Sousa at right wing back.
The match was mostly attack against defence with the visitors’ dominating proceedings from the first to the final whistle. They started on the front foot and Callum Whelan fired just wide on five minutes. Two minutes later Ed Francis shot from distance for the Heed and Ashmore was able to dive to his right to keep it out. Gateshead continued to have the upper hand and on fifteen minutes Regan Booty’s cross found their top scorer Marcus Dinanga who headed just wide, when well placed. Ten minutes later Mamadou Jobe missed a similar chance for the visitors. Against the run of play, Boreham Wood took the lead on twenty-seven minutes when Kabs Tshimanga finished went from a tight angle after an excellent run.
Despite the goal, the away side continued their dominance and on thirty-four minutes, Kieron Evans had a shot cleared off the line by Chris Bush. A minute later Luke Hannant’s shot crashed off the Boreham Wood crossbar before the rebound fell to Francis who shot high and wide. Evans was then off target for the Heed on forty minutes. Two minutes later Callum Whelan blasted over for Gateshead and Wood were able to hang on till half time with their lead in tact.
HALF TIME: BOREHAM WOOD 1-0 GATESHEAD
The visitors started the second half in the dominant way they ended the first. Kain Adom fired wide, five minutes after the restart. Straight afterwards, Boreham Wood had their first shot since the goal, but Angelo Balanta could only fire straight at Heed keeper James Montgomery. On sixty-three minutes Hannant shot from distance for the visitors but it was gathered comfortably by Ashmore.
During the next period of the game, the visitors continued to dominate but Wood held firm. On eighty-four minutes Wood might have doubled their lead but Tyrone Marsh’s long-range effort went just wide. Soon afterwards, Dajaune Brown’s deflected shot came off the Boreham Wood post. Wood seemed to be holding on comfortably and were able to take anything Gateshead could throw at them. This was until the ninety-fifth minutes when Brown waltzed through a seemingly static Boreham Wood defence to equalise and send the nine-forty Gateshead supporters into raptures. It was no more than the visitors deserved.
FULL TIME: BOREHAM WOOD 1-1 GATESHEAD
While a point was more than Wood deserved on the balance of play, the fact that they were leading until the final minutes of stoppage, will be immensely frustrating to Boreham Wood players and supporters alike as the relegating battle intensifies. With two tricky away games coming up at Halifax Town and Solihull Moors, Luke Garrard will be desperate to get some points out of these games.
By Brett Lewis
Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Coxe, Ilesamni, Bush, Fyfield, Sass-Davies, Payne, Balanta (Marsh 68), Robinson, Ndlovu (Sagaf 82), Tshimanga (Whelan 90)
Subs not used: Clayden, Cullum
Gateshead: Montgomery, Booty (Worman 74), Whelan, Richardson, Storey, Francis, Evans (Brown 82), Hannant, Adom (McBride 70), Jobe, Dinanga
Subs not used: Tinkler, Hasani
Man of the Match: Femi Ilesamni
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