Report by Jools Thomas

With FC playing the 2nd half in increasingly treacherous conditions, having the wind against them, with the visitors creating half a dozen decent chances and needing to survive the last 20 minutes with only ten men, it is fair to say that most at Haywood Way would be satisfied if not entirely happy with the point earned.

Northwood’s Max Holland had a fine game and he was causing trouble almost immediately forcing James Weatherill to save from a whipped in cross. A couple of minutes’ later Jeanmal Prosper played in a useful ball to Ryan O’Toole but the striker hit his effort over the bar. A good move from Woods’ Andy Lomas played in Mark Burgess on the quarter of an hour mark but Weatherill was down quickly to block the effort.

The next chance again saw Lomas involved as his header just flashed wide from a corner. Gareth Price was busy throughout most of the first half and he delivered a great cross in from the right but no team mate was alert enough to capitalise. The next effort again fell FC’s way. Ryan O’Toole and James Dobson stood over a free kick and it was O’Toole who took the kick blasting the ball into the wall before trickling into the safe hands of away keeper Berkeley Laurencin.

On 30 minutes Michael Murray’s snapshot scraped wide of the goal and this was followed by Aston Goss’ cheeky cross which saw Andy Lomas head the ball onto his own bar before Laurencin clutched the ball to his chest. The final action of the half was another Northwood chance. Holland broke clear on the right, turned two FC defenders but could only hit his final strike wide of the goal.
The second half’s first incident saw the industrious Jonny Montgomery hit a half chance volley straight at the keeper and this was followed by a great effort from Louis Stead who witnessed his shot being bravely saved by Weatherill before Holland followed up allowing the FC keeper to gather.

Chances were beginning to pile up for the away side. Niko Muir, James Burgess and then Michael Murray all had excellent chances to give their team the lead. In response Ryan O’Toole managed to turn and shoot making Laurencin work before Nathan Bowden Haase at the heart of the FC defence made a crucial tackle thereby preventing Holland from a clear sight of goal. Niko Muir found time on the edge of the box in the next piece of important play and his low shot was blocked with Weatherill stooping down low.
Bowden Haase had enjoyed a solid home debut but with 20 minutes remaining he received a straight red card for leading with the elbow. To compensate for his dismissal, striker Ryan O’Toole was replaced by Ben Stevens who slotted in at centre half. From the resultant free kick Muir chipped the ball over Weatherill only to see Grant Fryer clear the ball off the line.

Davis Haule had a chance one on one with the keeper with the Northwood man coming out on top and then Lynton Goss struck a half volley over the bar as FC finally showed they could attack despite the one man disadvantage. Louis Stead put in a decent cross for Northwood that eluded everyone including his teammates.

Aston Goss had a golden chance to advance on goal on 90 minutes but instead he thrashed at the ball and saw it fly over the bar when a degree of composure was all that was required. As injury time advanced there were three FC bookings one for dissent, one for a late tackle and one for retaliation following an incident in which most of the players became involved. The FC goal remained intact however and the team live to fight another day.