Simmonds Heads Wood In the Right Direction.
The Skrill South.
Boreham Wood 2 Gosport Borough 0,
by John Mead.
The visitors remain winless after Donovan Simmonds and some excellent work from Greg Morgan gave their Boss a much needed win and a clean sheet to boot.
Simmonds who has started just two games this campaign has now found the back of the net on three occasions, a statistic that will please Ian Allinson.
Wood dominated the first half and the damage had already been done before the interval. An early effort from distance by Jamie Brown that flew just wide was a rarity for the visitors as Wood took control through some superb distribution from Mario Noto. His ball over the top was trapped by Simmonds who set up Joe Woolley who fluffed his shot.
Wood should have been rewarded when another fine ball from Noto saw visiting keeper Nathan Ashmore rush out of his area to deny Woolley. He controlled the ball with his arm, but this was not picked up by referee Mr Butler.
However the visitors were on the back foot for the entire half and Wood were duly rewarded after 27 minutes. Jerome Jibodu and Noto combined intelligently down the right with Noto weaving into space to send a fine cross over which Simmonds got his body behind to skillfully head home across Ashmore.
James Russell dealt comfortably with the visitors first effort on goal after thirty eight minutes, a low Justin Bennett header from a Daniel Wooden corner.
Greg Morgan who has excelled as an emergency left back then did what he does best. Receiving the ball on the left he drove at the Boro defence before losing control. However Wood rallied and he drove in again with purpose. This time his dangerous ball across the box was deflected past Ashmore by defender Brett Poate at the near post to double the lead after 40 minutes.
Mark Bentley continued the momentum when Noto set him up for a drive that Ashmore was equal to.
After the interval Simmonds continued to threaten the Boro defence before the visitors enjoyed their best spell of the game albeit without really threatening. Russell stood firmly behind a Bennett free kick, before a Charlie O’Loughlin headed clearance allowed Simmonds a chipped effort which went just wide.
Noto then tried his luck from forty yards as the pressure on the Boro goal rescinded somewhat. The visitors although floundering in their early days in The Skrill South have yet to ship more than two goals in a game and they travelled back to Hampshire with at least that record intact. The closest they came to scoring was when Wood substitute Matthew Ball gave the ball away with his first touch, allowing Jack Barton a curling effort that Russell did well to read.
Ball then showed at the right end of the park with a measured effort that was just wide of the upright as Wood closed out the game for a comfortable three points. The win sees Wood move up a place to 18th, a position that should improve considerably should they return from Farnborough with three points on Tuesday night.
Speaking after the game Ian Allinson declared, “ The whole club needed that today. From the Chairman to the supporters and right through the dressing room . We showed today that when we are ahead we are very stubborn on conceding our advantage. We really need this after four heavy defeats and keeping a clean sheet does wonders for a teams confidence going into two very tough away fixtures in the next seven days.”
Team: Russell, Jibodu, Morgan, Cox, O’Loughlin, Garrard, Noto, Bentley, Simmonds, Woolley (Ball 86), Montgomery ( Hastings 77).
Subs not used: Whichelow, Hall, Courtnage.
Goals: Boreham Wood: Simmonds 27, og 40.
Man of the Match: Mario Noto.
