Boreham Wood were made to settle for a point in a hard-fought match in Somerset against a well-organised Weston-super-Mare side.

Luke Garrard named an unchanged starting lineup following last Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Carshalton Athletic.

It was a scrappy first half overall, where Boreham Wood were often second-best. The hosts nearly took the lead after six minutes when a mix-up between Nathan Ashmore and Charlie O’Connell enabled Reuben Reid to pounce, but he was unable to get a clean connection with the ball. Two minutes later, Junior Dixon had a shot deflected that nearly deceived Seagulls’ keeper Max Harris, but the Cheltenham Town loanee did well to gather the ball.

After 19 minutes, the hosts should have taken the lead when a lovely flick-on by Luke Coulson played in Sam Pearson, who screwed his shot wide. Wood went straight up the other end, and Cameron Coxe’s effort was well blocked by a Weston defender. On the half-hour mark, a Tom Whelan free kick was headed narrowly wide by O’Connell. Five minutes later, a Pearson pass picked out Jacob Cane, but he fired just wide of Nathan Ashmore’s goal.

HT: Weston-super-Mare 0-0 Boreham Wood

Luke Garrard rang the changes at half-time, with Dixon and Abdulmalik being replaced by Mo Sagaf and Tyrone Marsh to try and add some impetus to the Wood side. However, for a long period in the second half, it didn’t work. Five minutes after the restart, Reuben Reid outpaced the Boreham Wood defence but couldn’t get his shot on target. Three minutes later, a Whelan corner was headed over by Kwesi Appiah when well-placed. At this stage, the game was played mainly in Boreham Wood’s half, with the Wood defence, well-marshalled by the excellent Chris Bush, able to nullify the Seagulls’ threat.

The game turned in Boreham Wood’s favour following an excellent Tom Whelan free-kick, which was somehow saved by Max Harris in the Weston goal on 69 minutes. From here on, Wood dominated proceedings and had chances to win it. A deflected shot from Whelan hit the crossbar. On 82 minutes, Whelan again went close but missed a good chance to give Wood the lead. In the closing stages, Erico Sousa went on an excellent run and, rather than shoot, he played the ball across the goal, just out of Appiah’s reach, but into the path of Jayden Richardson. However, he was neither able to get it under control before the ball was cleared.

Boreham Wood weren’t at their best today and only really looked in the ascendancy in the last twenty minutes. However, they are now six unbeaten since Luke Garrard’s return to the club, and if we count the final four games of last season, Luke Garrard’s Boreham Wood side have only conceded one goal in the last ten matches. With AFC Hornchurch coming to the Mangata Pay UK Stadium Meadow Park on Wednesday night, he will want his side to get back to winning ways, though.

FT: Weston-super-Mare 0-0 Boreham Wood

Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Coxe (Richardson 60), Sousa, Ilesanmi, Bush, O’Connell (Agbontohoma 72), Payne, Whelan, Abdulmalik (Sagaf 46), Appiah, Dixon (Marsh 46).

Subs not used: Hare.

Weston-super-Mare: Harris, Thomas, Bastin, Kadji, Avery, Cane, Reid (McCootie 72), Coulson, Kirkman, Lewis, Pearson (Rose 77).

Subs not used: Absalom, Soule, Bak.

Man of the Match: Tom Whelan.

Match report written by Brett Lewis.