Wood made hard work of it but a 2-1 victory against Southern League Division One South side Larkhall Athletic ensures Boreham Wood are through to the FA Cup fourth qualifying round. Goals from Junior Dixon and Kwesi Appiah gave Boreham Wood a two-goal lead before a goal from Larkhall’s Max Williams meant Wood spent the rest of the match looking over their shoulders.
Luke Garrard named an unchanged line up from last Saturday’s 6-0 win against Welling United.
Boreham Wood controlled a lot of early possession but were unable to break down the Larks defence. In fact, it was the visitors who had the first chance of the game on nine minutes when some sloppy play in the Wood defence enabled Harvey Pritchard to be one-on-one with Nathan Ashmore but the Wood keeper was able to pull off a comfortable save. Six minutes later, Tyrone Marsh headed over from an Erico Sousa corner. Wood took the lead on seventeen minutes when a pinpoint Charlie O’Connell cross met the head of Junior Dixon who forced a reaction save from Adam Forster in the Larks goal but he was on hand to tap in the rebound.
Wood added a second on twenty-two minutes when Kwesi Appiah got on the end of a Cameron Coxe cross after a lovely move involving Charlie O’Connell, Tom Whelan and Cameron Coxe down the right flank. Six minutes later, Dixon nearly added a third for Boreham Wood, but his shot was well blocked by Lewis Graham. Wood had another chance on thirty-five minutes when Marsh and Dixon linked up well to create a chance for Appiah, however his shot was just off target. A minute later, the Larks pulled a goal back when Max Williams dispossessed Jack Payne in the Wood midfield before unleashing a powerful shot from range which caught Ashmore out at his near post. The visitors grew in confidence after that goal and started to play the ball around nicely before the break. Spencer Dymond-Hall forced Ashmore into a save just before the interval.
HT: Boreham Wood 2-1 Larkhall Athletic
Wood started the second half on the front foot and had a good opportunity three minutes after the restart when Marsh had a shot blocked. A minute later Coxe fired just wide of Forster’s goal. On fifty-five minutes a Marsh cross was met by Dixon at the far post, but his header was somehow cleared off the line by Larks skipper Samuel Boulton. Wood continued to control the match but while there was only a goal between the sides, there was always a risk. Sousa had a good chance on seventy minutes but was denied by Forster in the Larks goal. Three minutes later, an excellent Sousa run and pass to Dixon should have resulted in a goal but he was eventually denied by the legs of Forster.
Max Williams fired just over from a free kick on seventy-seven minutes. The visitors threatened again seven minutes later when Alexander Lambert fired just wide when well placed. In the third minute of stoppage time, Wood had a golden chance to finish it when an Abdul Abdulmalik run set up Dixon but he fired over when well placed.
The main thing is, Boreham Wood are through to the next round. Luke Garrard’s men made hard work of it though and lacked the fluency they had last week against Welling United. Full credit to Larkhall Athletic who came to play football.
FT: Boreham Wood 2-1 Larkhall Athletic
Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Coxe (Richardson 85), Sousa, Ilesanmi, Bush, O’Connell, Payne, Whelan, Marsh (Mafuta 63), Appiah (Abdulmalik 67), Dixon.
Subs not used: Agbontohoma, Sagaf, Goddard, Cnacoschi.
Larkhall Athletic: Forster, Williams, Dymond-Hall, Boulton, Graham, Mortimor-Taylor (Cannings 59), Norris (Passco 88), Hicks, Pritchard (Lambert 59), Beckinsale (Pollard 75), Camm.
Subs not used: Evans, Bradley.
Man of the match: Femi Ilesanmi.
Match report written by Brett Lewis.
