Boreham Wood 2 Larkhall Athletic 1
Mangata Pay UK Stadium Meadow Park
28th September at 3pm
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
Player of the Match: Femi Ileamni
THAT WAS NO LARK
They made hard work of it but a 2-1 victory against Southern League Division One South side Larkhall Athletic ensures Boreham Wood are through to the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round. Goals from Junior Dixon and Kwesi Appiah gave Boreham Wood a two-goal lead before a goal from Larkhall’s Max Williams meant Wood spent the rest of the match looking over their shoulders.
Luke Garrard named an unchanged line up from last Saturday’s 6-0 win against Welling United.
FIRST HALF
Boreham Wood controlled a lot of early possession but were unable to break down the Larks defence. In fact it was the visitors who had the first chance of the game on nine minutes when some sloppy play in the Wood defence, enabled Harvey Pritchard to be one on one with Nathan Ashmore but the Wood keeper was able to pull off a comfortable save. Six minutes later, Tyrone Marsh headed over from an Erico Sousa corner. Wood took the lead on seventeen minutes when a pinpoint Charlie O’Connell cross met the head of Junior Dixon who forced a save from Adam Forster in the Larks goal before Dixon was able to bundle home the rebound
Wood added a second on twenty-two minutes when Kwesi Appiah got on the end of a Cameron Coxe cross after a lovely move involving O’Connell and Tom Whelan. Six minutes later, Dixon nearly added a third for Boreham Wood, but his shot was well blocked by Lewis Graham. Wood had another chance on thirty-five minutes when Marsh and Dixon linked up well to create a chance for Appiah. However, his shot was just off target. A minute later, the Larks pulled a goal back when Max Williams dispossessed Jack Payne in the Wood midfield before unleashing a powerful shot which caught Ashmore out at his near post. The visitors grew in confidence after that goal, and started to play the ball around nicely before the break. Spencer Dymond-Hall forced Ashmore into a save just before the interval.
SECOND HALF
Wood started the second half on the front foot and had a good opportunity three minutes after the restart when Marsh had a shot blocked. A minute later Coxe fired just wide of Forster’s goal. On fifty-five minutes a Marsh cross was met by Dixon at the far post, but his header was somehow cleared off the line by Larks skipper Samuel Boulton. Wood continued to control the match but while there was only a goal between the sides, there was always a risk. Sousa had a good chance on seventy minutes but was denied by Forster in the Larks goal. Three minutes later, an excellent Sousa run and pass to Dixon should have resulted in a goal but he was eventually denied by the legs of Forster after not really having control of the ball.
The visitors had most of the possession towards the end of the game and Max Williams fired just over from a free kick on seventy-seven minutes. The visitors threatened again seven minutes later when Alexander Lambert fired just wide when well placed. In the third minute of stoppage time, Wood had a good chance to finish it when an Abdul Abdulmalik run, set up Dixon who fired over when well placed. Referee Ayrton Hursey blew up soon after, much to the relief of the Boreham Wood players and supporters.
The main thing is, Boreham Wood are through to the next round. Luke Garrard’s men made hard work of it though and lacked the fluency they had last week against Welling United. Full credit to Larkhall Athletic who came to play football.
Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Coxe (Richardson 85), Sousa, Ilesamni, Bush, O’Connell, Payne, Whelan, Marsh (Mafuta 63), Appiah (Abdulmalik 67), Dixon
Subs not used: Agbontohoma, Sagaf, Goddard, Cnacoschi
Larkhall Athletic: Forster, Williams, Dymond-Hall, Boulton, Graham, Mortimor-Taylor (Cannings 59), Norris (Passco 88), Hicks, Pritchard (Lambert 59), Beckinsale (Pollard 75), Camm
Subs not used: Evans, Bradley
