Northwood suffer fifth Southern League defeat to Hadley

That sequence was ended by a 2-1 home win over Aylesbury United in game six so the side will be hoping that their recent improved showings will result in a similar way when they next get to play a match in Division One Central.

Manager Scott Donnelly continued to shuffle his squad, both in the hope of hitting upon the right combination and through injuries and departures which ruled out goalkeeper Dan Hosier, winger Ibrahim Lukulay and skipper Harry Gallagher, who moved to Welwyn Garden City following the Woods game there the previous Monday.

Former Woods youth keeper Ryan Hopping deputised in goal for his debut and there were two other newcomers in left-back Kelechi Etienne, on dual-registration from Rayners Lane, plus centre-half Balu Makumbi who is on Slough Town’s development team’s books.

Manu Oke-William and Prince Mbengui were restored to the starting line-up, while Jack Smith, freshly returned to the Woods having left last December, was on the bench.

Manu Oke-William heads against the crossbar (Image: James Brown)

It almost went completely wrong for the Woods in just the second minute as the visitors won a corner and it was met on the volley by Luke Alfano but his strike hit the inside of the near post and bounced safely for Hopping to gather.

Two minutes later Oke-William flicked a shot that looped up nicely for goalkeeper Luke Ward to claim, while the Bricks hit back with a good cross finding Isaac Stones but his header was straight at Hopping who took it comfortably.

Northwood enjoyed a good spell of pressure after this, forcing a series of corners, the third of which saw both Makumbi and James Taylor get a touch goalwards but Ward just managed to keep it out.

Then a poor clearance by Ward presented a great opportunity to Mbengui who appeared to have taken full advantage with a good first-time strike but the Hadley keeper just managed to get a foot to it to keep it out.

Still the Woods pushed forward and from a recycled corner, Harry McKenna centred and picked out Oke-William who got up superbly to steer a header goalwards only to see it come back off the crossbar with Ward nowhere near it.

After 32 minutes, the Bricks did have the ball in the net as Stones converted from close range after a couple of fortuitous rebounds in the area but it was ruled out by an offside flag and it was Northwood who finished the half on top.

Long-range efforts from Gabi Ipanga-Mbambo and McKenna were both too high to test Ward but in between these strikes, there was a great chance for Archie James, made skipper for the game, to put his side in front on 42 minutes. He got ahead of his marker to a chip over the top and had most of the goal to aim at but his shot was just close enough to Ward for him to make a diving stop with a strong right hand.

Oke-William's shot is just kept out by the keeper (Image: James Brown)

Smith replaced Yahaya Kamara at half-time as Woods looked to maintain their standard of performance but straight from the kick-off a defensive error, a weak header back to Hopping which led to the keeper conceding a penalty which Alfano tucked away neatly, gifted Hadley the lead.

With a goal behind them, the Bricks started to penetrate the Woods defence. A lucky rebound put Finley Aldridge in on goal but Hopping denied him with a fine save and then the Woods debutant was also equal to another Alfano effort from distance. The Bricks top scorer Stones had a good chance on 66 minutes but lifted his shot over the bar.

Northwood hadn’t really threatened but Etienne’s wayward effort a minute later lifted them a little and they were almost level five minutes later. McKenna did well down the right to beat his marker and knock in a low cross. Ward could only push the ball away and it fell to Oke-William whose shot from six yards looked certain to make the net bulge but actually hit Ward’s left leg and flew wide.

The Woods made a couple of substitutions in an effort to find the equaliser with Jordan Brown and Jeremy Stewart, back from injury, replacing Mbengui and Ipanga-Mbambo, but it left more gaps at the back and it was the Bricks who finished strongly.

Hopping capped a good debut by denying Stones and Caolan McGettigan with two excellent saves but after 84 minutes George Alfieri knocked in a cross which man-of-the-match Alfano met with a header back across goal for his second of the game.