HONOURABLE DEFEAT AGAINST PREMIER LEAGUE NEW BOYS
Boreham Wood 0-2 Brentford
Tuesday 20th July 2021, 7.30pm
Meadow Park, Pre Season Friendly
It was a good contest between Boreham Wood and Premier League new boys Brentford in an entertaining pre-season friendly at Meadow Park in which a goal in both halves gave the visitors a 2-0 victory.
Boreham Wood gave a good account of themselves against the West London side and limited the visitors to few chances overall. With six minutes on the clock Brentford had their first chance when Sergi Canos’s shot was well saved by Nathan Ashmore. Shandon Baptiste fired over with a well struck volley ten minutes later and the same player shot wide on twenty-one minutes. A minute later, the visitors took the lead and it was last season’s hotshot Ivan Toney who broke the deadlock. An excellent Canos ball found the former Peterborough man and with little backlift, he was able to delivery a delightful curling shot that gave Ashmore no change at all. Soon after Will Evans had his first of two good chances, the first of which was saved by David Raya in the Brentford goal. Soon afterwards, the former Chesterfield centre half should have put Boreham Wood level but he headed wide when well placed following an excellent cross by Kane Smith. On forty-two minutes Canos’s effort was well saved by Ashmore.
The second half started in the same vein as the first ended with the visitors well on top in terms of possession but Boreham Wood were holding their own. Wood new boy Jacob Mendy Mendy had a shot from distance on fifty-two minutes but Brentford’s replacement keeper Patrik Gunnarsson was equal to it. Three minutes later an excellent shot by Kabs Tshimanga cannoned off Gunnarsson’s goal with the Icelandic goalkeeper thinking it was going wide. Straight afterwards, the Bees doubled their lead. Dominic Thompson’s inch perfect cross was expertly hammered home by Tariqe Fosu. Just like Luton on Saturday, Brentford made wholesale changes on the hour mark by replacing all ten outfield players. Whereas on Saturday, Wood capitulated after similar changes, they held their own for the rest of the match on this occasion and came away with an honourable defeat
It was another good workout for Luke Garrard’s men against a higher level side. With the start of the season a little over a month away, preparation for the big kick off is well underway and the squad is looking in good shape.
Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Ilesamni, Evans, Fyfield, Mendy Mendy, Smith, Ricketts, Rees, Mafuta, Tshimanga, Marsh
Subs: Trialist A, Stephens, Raymond, Green, Trialist B, Trialist C, Trialist D, Connor Smith, McKenna
Brentford: Raya, Roerslev, Goode, Pinnock, Thompson, Baptiste, Ghoddos, Fosu, Canos, Haygarth, Toney,
Subs: Gunnarsson, Valencia, Dervisoglu, Stevens, Gordon, Racic, Oksanen, Gilbert, Russell, Brook
Match report written by Brett Lewis (Non-League Paper & Wood Army member).
