A first-half goal by Kwesi Appiah was enough to give Boreham Wood their fourth win in a row in league and cup since Luke Garrard’s return to the club. Luke Garrard named an unchanged starting line-up for the third match running.

The hosts started the game on the front foot and were playing the ball around nicely, although they were unable to really create anything. After the opening period, Wood started to control possession. A lovely move involving Erico Sousa and Tyrone Marsh nearly resulted in a goal for Junior Dixon, but his shot was blocked in the 11th minute. Wood took the lead in the 26th minute when a Tom Whelan corner was headed in by Kwesi Appiah. Four minutes later, Whelan should have doubled Boreham Wood’s lead, but he couldn’t keep his shot down when well placed.

In the 35th minute, Marsh was played in by Sousa, but his shot was blocked by Bluebird’s defender Luke Haines. Three minutes later, Luke Spokes fired too high from a free kick just outside the penalty area. In the 42nd minute, the hosts had another chance when an excellent cross from Will Dawes was met by the head of Leone Gravata, who was denied by Nathan Ashmore in the Wood goal. Spokes had another shot for the Bluebirds from distance just before the interval, but Ashmore was again equal to it.

HT: Chippenham Town 0-1 Boreham Wood

The hosts started the second half as they finished the first by creating a good chance. This time, Spokes’ fiercely struck shot just cleared the crossbar. After this, the game lacked quality for a period, with the hosts controlling much of the possession, but the Wood’s defence always seemed to be first to the ball, which in turn restricted any threat that the Bluebirds had. Harry Parsons went close for the hosts in the 67th minute, but Ashmore was equal to it. Almost immediately after, Sousa played in Dixon, whose shot was well saved by Will Henry in the Bluebird’s goal. Tom Mehew fired just wide for the hosts a few minutes later.

The hosts were always in the game, and during the final stages, had a lot of possession in and around the Wood penalty area, but the Wood defence was equal to any threat. It was Wood substitute Abdul Abdulmalik who nearly created a memorable moment in stoppage time by taking on the entire Bluebirds defence before being denied by keeper Henry.

It was an important three points for Boreham Wood in their battle for instant promotion back to the National League. While they weren’t at their best, they had enough resilience to get the job done. If Wood are to go up, they will have to win games when they aren’t at 100%. This was an example of that. Attention now turns to the FA Cup fourth round qualifying tie at home to Carshalton Athletic next week.

FT: Chippenham Town 0-1 Boreham Wood

Chippenham Town: Henry, Colwell, Grant, Haines, Andrews, Mehew (McClure 83), Spokes, Dawes, King (Johnson 69), Gravata (Bray 74), Parsons (Owen-Evans 83).

Subs not used: Williams.

Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Coxe (Richardson 73), Sousa, Ilesanmi, Bush, O’Connell, Payne, Whelan (Agbontohoma 90), Marsh (Mafuta 61), Appiah, Dixon (Abdulmalik 83).

Subs not used: Sagaf.

Man of the match: Femi Ilesanmi.

Match report written by Brett Lewis.