Angol Grinds Down Gallant Robins.
F A Cup 3rd Qualifying Round Replay.
Boreham Wood 1 Frome Town 0,
by John Mead.
Gallant Frome gave it their all but Wood were too strong on the night, with the chance to meet up again with Woking in a Cup competition too big an opportunity to pass up.
The match was played in absolutely atrocious conditions that worsened as the game wore on, and it was a credit to both sides the standard of football produced. The Robins disguised themselves as the high flying Vanarama Conference South side for the opening twenty minutes, whilst Wood were left paddling in the water that the pitch was holding.
Frome tore at Wood from the off, with a dangerous cross from Matt Smith punched behind for a corner inside the first minute by James Russell. The dangerous Ben Thomson then intercepted a weak Callum Reynolds header meant for Russell who did extremely well to get back behind the ball to save his side.
Another dangerous attack came from Kris Miller and Jon Vance combining down the right, with the latter’s shot blocked by Ricky Shakes for a corner.
Wood increased their pace to win a free kick that was wasted by Lee Angol before Austin Lipman surged forward playing a fine ball into the stride of Graeme Montgomery who drew a fine save from the excellent Darren Chitty.
The intensity of Wood’s play continued to increase and when Sam Cox broke up play he set up a move orchestrated and finished by Angol. He skipped past a challenge playing a one two with Montgomery before seeing his shot blocked as far as Lipman who was also denied by a defender. The goal mouth scramble was won by Angol who took his second chance well, finding space to shoot low into the net after 25 minutes.
Wood enjoyed the one goal cushion briefly with Reynolds heading just over from Montgomery’s free kick before the visitors threatened again. It took a superb challenge from Cox to deny Brandon Mundy before Thomson sent Aaron Rodriguez through on goal. His shot from the left had the beating of Russell but struck the post.
Cox had an effort saved before Angol missed a great chance to double the advantage just before the break. He intercepted a poor cross field ball from a defender on the right and with Chitty off his line snatched at his shot which flew over the bar.
Wood grew in stature after the interval and worked extremely hard against determined and physical opposition. With Cox playing out of his skin in the centre of the park the opportunities to increase the lead began to mount up.
Shakes sent a fine cross from the right to the far post where Montgomery lashed an effort from a tight angle that was well saved. Then a fine break involving a neat turn from Shakes allowed a cross from Angol that left Cox denied by a point blank save.
The Robins defence were now working overtime and the introduction of Junior Morias after 67 minutes made their task even harder. His fine ball in from the right was left by Angol allowing Shakes a decent view of goal, only to blast over the bar.
A fifty yard ball from Reynolds was perfect for Montgomery whose first time cross was met by Angol who with only Chitty to beat guided his effort high of the target.
The visitors wasted a great chance to punish Wood’s lack of composure in front of goal when Thomson’s cross from the right came off a defender straight to an unmarked Mark Cooper who steered his shot wide of the left hand post.
Morias stung the hands of Chitty who conceded a corner from which Reynolds saw his effort cleared off the line by a defender at the far post.
The never say die Robins mounted a late challenge. Thomson twisted and turned into the penalty area only to be denied by a recovering challenge from Josh Hill.
Wood’s last failed attempt at adding a second came when Matty Whichelow raced up field travelling seventy yards with the ball before laying on the easiest of finishes for Morias who was denied his third goal in as many games by the offside flag. The final whistle signalled a trip to face high flying Woking in a Cup competition for the first time since our F A Trophy Semi Final encounter nine seasons ago.
Speaking after the final whistle Ian Allinson commented “ All credit to the club for getting this game on given the amount of rain that fell throughout the whole day and during the tie. With a little bit more composure in front of goal we should have put the game to bed. We knew it was going to be tough, this is the F A Cup and Frome Town were a decent side with some very good players. After the first twenty minutes I thought we defended well and we will now take our chance to play Woking in twelve days time. I can assure you we are not going along to make up the numbers and whenever we exit this competition we need to ensure we are still in the mix at the top end of the table. Our attentions now turn to the trip to face Hayes And Yeading this coming Saturday where we need a result.”
Team: Russell, Morgan, Brown, Cox, Hill, Reynolds, Shakes, Thomas, Angol, Lipman (Morias 67), Montgomery (Whichelow 87).
Subs not used: Noto, Moli, Courtnage, Garrard.
Goals: Boreham Wood: Angol 25.
Man Of The Match: Sam Cox.
