Dartford 0 Boreham Wood 2
Princes Park
3rd August at 3:00pm
Pre-Season Friendly
Man of the Match: Charles Clayden
Boreham Wood rounded off their pre-season campaign with a 2-0 win away at Dartford. Two later goals by substitute Charles Clayden were the difference between the two side.
First Half
The hosts had most of the early possession, but Boreham Wood had the games first effort on goal. On seven minutes, Lee Ndlovu had a half chance after being played in by Erico Sousa, but Darts defender Luther Williams blocked his shot. Three minutes later Gus Mafuta’s long range shot was also blocked, this time by former Wood defender Josh Hill. On fifteen minutes Ben Allen fired narrowly wide for the hosts when well placed.
Six minutes later, David Agbontohomo went off with what looked like a hamstring injury. This must put in doubt his availability for next week’s season opener against Bath City. The appearance of Ilesamni on the left gave a bit more shape to the Boreham Wood side and improved the attacking threat down that side. Soon afterwards, Ndlovu shot into the side netting before some lovely interplay between Ilesamni and Erico resulted in Femi getting a shot in, but Darts keeper Jacob Marsden made the save. On the stroke of half time, Ilesamni fouled Ben Allen in the penalty area, but Nathan Ashmore saved the resulting penalty from Allen.
Second Half
Two minutes after the restart Boreham Wood had an excellent opportunity to take the lead when Sousa’s cross was on a plate for Johnny Goddard, but the former Slough Town midfielder somehow missed the target. On fifty minutes Ndlovu had a shot blocked before the ball fell to Jack Payne, who’s follow up was just wide. Twelve minutes later Jeremiah Pinder took advantage of a sloppy clearance out of the Wood defence, but Ashmore was able to save his fiercely struck shot.
Although Boreham Wood controlled a lot of the possession, they were struggling to break down a very dogged Darts defence. This changed following introduction of Abdul Abdulmalik, new boy Junior Dixon as well as Charles Clayden who all added a different dimension to Boreham Wood’s play. Although Dartford held firm for a while, it seemed only a matter of time until Boreham Wood scored. Mo Sagaf nearly did just that on seventy-seven minutes, but his long-range effort was narrowly wide. Abdulmalik’s shot stung the fingers of Dart keeper Atkinson, five minutes later. The opening goal finally came on eighty-eight minutes when Charles Clayden reacted quickest to a Sousa corner to give Wood the lead. A minute later, following a good counter-attack Sousa got his second with a neat finish.
Boreham Wood made hard work of it against an organised Dartford side but helped by their options on the bench, they were able to find a way in the end. It was useful preparation for the season against a resilient Dartford side. In the National League South, Boreham Wood will come up against several dogged defences and will have to find a way to break them down if they’re to achieve promotion. They will also need to cut out any errors at the back.
With the pre-season fixture now over, all focus turns to the big kick National League South kick off against Bath City at Meadow Park next Saturday.
Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Hare, Bush, Agbontohoma (Ilesamni 21), O’Connell, Payne (Whelan 60), Goddard (Abdulmalik 60), Mafuta (Sagaf 72), Sousa, Marsh (Clayden 75), Ndlovu (Dixon 68)
Subs not used: Sagaf, Morley, Clayden, Isaac
Dartford: Marsden, Odaudu, Hill, Jones, Olopade, Ben Allen, Trialist, Williams, Trialist, Christian-Law, Pinder
By Brett Lewis
