Chesham United 1 Boreham Wood 2
The Meadow
Saturday 17th August // 15:00 KO
Vanarama National League South
Man of the Match: Lee Ndlovu
THE WOOD HANG ON
Boreham Wood won their second game in a row at the start of the season in the Vanarama National League South with a goal in each half by Lee Ndlovu before a late goal from Nathan Minhas made them sweat at the end.
Ross Jenkins made two changes from last Saturday’s victory against Bath City with Femi Ilesamni coming in for Charles Clayden at left back and Johnny Goddard coming in for his Boreham Wood debut in midfield in place of Mo Sagaf.
First Half
Boreham Wood came out of the blocks straight away and Ndlovu just failed to connect properly from a Johnny Goddard cross on two minutes. Two minutes later, an Erico Sousa corner was headed goalwards by Tyrone Marsh who was denied by Ben Goode in the Chesham goal. The rebound fell nicely to Lee Ndlovu who made no mistake from close range. After the goal, Boreham Wood continued to enjoy most of the possession, but their passing in the final third was often wasteful. The hosts started to grow in confidence as the half wore on.
On twenty minutes, United’s Nathan Minhas was through on goal but was denied by an excellent tackle from Charlie O’Connell as he was about to pull the trigger. Six minutes later Minhas had another good chance, but he fired over. On twenty-nine minutes Erico Sousa went on an excellent run but couldn’t finish from a tight angle. A minute later, Ndlovu’s header crashed against the Chesham crossbar with keeper Goode beat. On thirty-seven minutes a Goddard cross was headed into the side netting by Sousa. Four minutes later, some excellent approach play from United ended with Nathan Ashmore producing an outstanding save to deny Mitchell Weiss, just as the ball looked like nestling into the corner.
Second Half
Boreham Wood settled their nerves two minutes after the restart due to an outstanding second goal from Ndlovu. He flipped the ball over two Chesham defenders before holding off a third and finishing well past Goode in the United goal. The hosts to their credit didn’t lay down and the Buckinghamshire side were always in the game. Joe Grant fired just wide of Ashmore’s goal on the hour mark. The Wood stopper did well to deny Weiss with twelve minutes left on the clock. Tom Whelan could have put the game beyond doubt on eighty-three minutes, but Goode did well to make the save. The hosts got a deserved goal back following a goalmouth scramble in the first minute of stoppage time and then threated to grab an equaliser. When referee Harrison Blair blew the final whistle Wood were relieved to secure the points.
It was a hard-fought win for Ross Jenkins’s men, but they were up against a determined Chesham side who made it very difficult for them. With an important game on Tuesday night away at Dorking Wanderers, the Boreham Wood Head Coach will want his side to continue their perfect start to the season.
Chesham United: Goode, Rolfe, Lafleur, Cawley, Stevens (Brown 82), Gallimore (Connors 70), Minhas, Weiss, Grant (Upward 70), Adebiyi, Lodge
Subs not used: Esan, Jones
Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Hare, Ilesamni, Bush, O’Connell, Payne, Whelan, Goddard (Sagaf 65), Sousa, Ndlovu (Dixon 69), Marsh (Mafuta 83),
Subs not used: Clayden, Abdulmalik
By Brett Lewis
