Report by Jools Thomas

A strong Aylesbury midfield provided the ammunition to a grateful Aston Goss who claimed all three goals in a game which, although in truth never reached the heights of recent home games, still provided supporters with an intriguing and action packed encounter.

Whilst there were no goals in the first half, it could be argued that FC enjoyed more possession and better flowing football than their three goal second period. Early on Ben Bateman put in a corner which a home defender could quite easily have sliced into his own goal and this was followed by Nana Asomoah breaking the FC offside trap with home keeper James Weatherill needing to be alert to cut out the danger. Connor Baker had a lively old game at left back and his tenth minute race with away striker Michael Murray saw the away man winning the contest on this occasion thwarted again by a vigilant Weatherill.

Sonny French had a superb game particularly in the first half and was unlucky twice not to score. On the first occasion his low drive cannoned off the post before he skewed the rebound over the bar. A few minutes and Sonny’s snapshot from a floated freekick was again crashed against the woodwork with his follow up once more hit off target.

Michael Murray hit back for Northwood with a long range effort and not long afterwards FC centre half Kyle Anthony cut out a dangerous run by Asamoah which could have left the ‘Woods striker with a clear run on goal. Omar Vassell was the next away player to strike on goal and he very nearly put his side in the lead. Vassell broke the offside trap and lobbed the ball over Weatherill only to see his effort also clear the goal. To finish the half, Brian Haule was very unlucky as another quality ball from the left was just a little too high for the big target man.

Both teams must have been encouraged by their attacking prowess in the first half. Aston Goss on the left hand side just missed out with a turn and shot early in the second period before he placed a header just wide after good link up play between Ben Bateman and Jeanmal Prosper. Another great team move involving Gareth Price and Bateman saw a cross reach Aston Goss whose cultured sidefoot was placed neatly into the net for a 1-0 FC lead. The infamous FC Drummer Boys were still celebrating the first goal when just three minutes later, Aston received the ball on the left hand side of the box and he powered home an effort which had quality written all over it to double his side’s lead.

This should have been the spur for FC to close out the game but as so often happens in football, 2-0 can be a very dangerous scoreline. The home team appeared to sit back on the laurels and this gave Northwood a new found impetus. With a quarter of an hour still to play, a ball from the left hand side saw away substitute Ismael Ehui plant a header straight at Weatherill when a placement either side could have meant a goal. Five minutes more pressure on the FC goal saw the home keeper make a point blank save but this time Ehui was on hand to crash the ball home and really place pressure on FC’s lead.

As it was this was the end of Woods’ efforts as an attacking force. Centre backs Ben Stevens and Kyle Anthony regrouped their defence allowing the forwards to do their work. Bradley Wadkins was unlucky with a terrific dance and shot with five minutes to play and as the referee was glancing at his watch, FC were awarded a penalty. Northwood would be within their rights to argue about the validity of the decision but as it was Aston Goss gratefully seized the opportunity by calmly stroking the penalty past away keeper Berkley Laurencin to claim all three points and the coveted match ball.