Boreham Wood’s Under 19s progressed into the semi-finals of the National League Cup in emphatic style, with a 4-0 win over Nuneaton Town.
Bradley Sach netted a hat-trick for the Young Wood, while Sorba Thomas added a fourth in injury time.
There was an early chance for Cameron Mawer’s young side, as Sach drove down the right-wing and swung a ball in for Thomas, but his effort was blocked.
Continuing their dominance, Tarrel Watson-Noel met Alex Morgan’s corner, but headed narrowly over the crossbar.
Fred Burbidge has been a solid presence between the sticks all season for Mawer’s side and showed his worth when called upon. The young stopper pushed the ball out of the top corner, following a long-range effort from Nuneaton.
Morgan then met Thomas’ whipped cross and twisted a header just shy of the left post, with the Wood looking increasingly likely to go ahead.
Jack Gibbs, who had scored a hat-trick of his own in the Southern Counties Floodlit League last week, headed narrowly over from Thomas’ left-wing cross.
The deadlock was broken by Sach just two minutes shy of half-time, when a low cross rebounded into the path of the forward, who smashed the ball home.
Thomas’ crosses continued to trouble the visitor’s defence, but his latest attempt, from a free-kick, curled harmlessly into the hands of their goalkeeper.
An attacking run by Iliman Ndiaye saw the ball fed into the area, through a mixture of Wood teammates, but Morgan was unable to finish off the chance.
Morgan then met Thomas’ free-kick with a powerful header, but the Nuneaton stopper was down to claim it.
The lead was doubled after 70 minutes, when Sach produced a delicate chip, to lob the ball over the opposition goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
The Nuneaton stopper had been called upon a number of times in the game and needed to be at his best when Morgan’s effort was heading for the top corner, as he pushed it acrobatically over the bar.
In the dying embers of the game, Mawer’s side added another two goals. Sach completed his hat-trick with the first, when he smashed it across goal with his right foot and into the corner.
Thomas got onto the scoresheet with the next, as he flashed down the left-wing and fizzled the ball home, from a wide angle.
On the victory, Mawer commented: “I am really pleased and not just with the result today, because I think that the performance was of a level. These boys were given an opportunity and they were good enough to take it.
“It was a good Nuneaton side, don’t by any means be fooled by the score, because they have played 10 and won nine of those. They haven’t been beaten since the opening game of their season.
“They showed a real togetherness today, but I think that our tempo, and our desire, was really, really good.
“In the team talk at the start of the match, I said to the older lads, namely Bradley Sach and Sorba Thomas, if you two can lead from the front today, then I think that we can get a result.
“Being in-front of the gaffer as well this afternoon, that made them want to impress, and I think that they went about it in the right way.
“It is massive to be in semi-final, but whoever we get, we know that we are going to have to be ready and prepare ourselves, as we did today.
“Their attitude, discipline and desire, was excellent at times today and hopefully we can go and get a nice home draw in the next round and try and get ourselves into the final.”
