So yes, as mentioned in the last blog post, sadly I missed the friendly between Boreham Wood and Hendon due to a prior commitment in Manchester. Thankfully, THANKFULLY, my friend and Hendon supporter Phil Rogers was there, and kindly agreed to write up a report for me. It's always good to get opinions from other fans, and with Phil being a lifelong Hendon fan and therefore very knowledgeable about this level of football, I was delighted to get his take on the game at Meadow Park. Without further ado, here is Phil Rogers on Boreham Wood vs Hendon:
As a somewhat committed non-league fan, there's usually a sense of anticipation for me about the start of pre-season. While many see July and August as full of pointless fixtures with between teams of trialists and mismatches between teams half a dozen divisions apart, to me it provides a good chance for a first sight of new signings and to visit clubs I'd never get the chance to travel to; one of the best away days of recent years for me was an all day 4 team pre-season tournament at Amersham Town... a club we'll most likely never face in competitive football in my lifetime.
And so it was that I ended up looking forward to the announcement that Hendon would be starting our pre-season this year at Meadow Park - not only less than five miles from my flat, but also tied in with the chance of meeting up with Rich (WeAreTheWood), with whom I formed a formidable defensive partnership for 3 non-competitive games in 2010 and have shared far more sambucas than is good for any aniseed hating man.
Unfortunately, plans to meet up beforehand for a few brews went awry when it turned up that through a spectacularly bad piece of planning, this was the one pre-season fixture that Rich wasn't going to be able to make - leaving me to concoct something approximating a report in his absence. With the relatively short distance involved, I decided this might be a good time to dust off the bike and cycle over to Borehamwood, neglecting to remember that I hadn't cycled for two years and virtually the whole journey was uphill. Nonetheless, 25 minutes later, and with a great deal of effort expended, I arrived early enough to spot both squads warming up in Meadow Park. A quick look for new faces warming up with the Hendon squad (spotting surprisingly few) and a wander past the 3G pitch on which Wood's PASE side were in the middle of a game of their own (4-1 down unfortunately) and I headed in - through the exit gate so I could keep hold of my bike - and round to the far side to await kick off.
Wood lined up with what looked to an unseasoned observer to be a strong side on paper, including a combination of both names known to me previously - the likes of Ali Chaaban, Luke Garrard and Daniel Braithwaite all having lined up against Hendon more than once in the past - and trialists previously unknown to me, although with no worse a pedigree; Luke Wilkinson and Moses Ademola all having recently turned out previously at Farnborough, Dagenham & Redbridge and Woking respectively. The visitors only had two new faces in the first eleven, midfielder James Archer and former Wood defender both on trial.
The home side unsurprisingly started by far the stronger with 180 minutes of football already under Boreham Wood's belt, while Hendon looked as ring rusty as you'd expect from a side who haven't played in over two months and Chaaban was at the centre of much of the early play. It took just three minutes for him to force a save from visiting 'keeper Barclay Laurencin and within three more minutes he had the ball in the net. Charlie Hunter threaded the ball through to Ademola who reached the ball just ahead of a hesitant Laurencin. Ademola was brought down just inside the area and Chaaban made no mistake with his penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way.
Wood continued to dominate the early exchanges and spurned several chances to extend the lead, with Chaaban continuing to pull the strings on the right wing, delivering a number of dangerous balls into the box. Around the quarter hour, yet another delivery from wide found Ademola in the middle of the penalty area and the trialist had the presence of mind to play the ball behind him to help it to David Bryant, unmarked at the far side of the six yard box. Unfortunately for the home side, Bryant spurned the chance and blazed over when it looked easier to score before Daryl McMahon made Laurencin plunge to his left to prevent the second.
Midway through the half, the Greens began to find a little rhythm and began to compete, with the remainder of the half largely being seen out in midfield. Boreham Wood certainly still dominated possession, but the leaks in the visiting defence had been plugged so they were reduced to long range pot-shots which failed to trouble the goal.
The second half saw a raft of substitutions that Sven Goran Eriksson himself would have been proud of, Hendon making seven changes and Boreham Wood three at the interval. Both sides were evidently weaker overall for the changes, but the match opened out, with the odd chance being created at either end. Hendon's best spell came early in this period, with a couple of comfortable saves forced from Michael Jordan, but more impressively, despite the lack of work throughout the game, the keeper had stayed alert enough to be able to intercept a dangerous through ball to young forward Aaron Morgan - had the bustling striker got there first, he'd have been favourite to equalise.
Six more changes were made between the two teams on 70 minutes, five for Wood and old fan-favourite Junior Lewis making his return for Hendon after the best part of a decade at a whole series of clubs with Peter Taylor. The changes certainly reinvigorated the home team, with Lewis' first contribution having to be a thumping defensive header to clear a dangerous looking set piece, and Simeon Akinola forcing Laurencin back into work. However, neither side managed to bother the other unduely in the remainder of the game, the only real points of interest late on being a further three substitutions - Hendon replacing the remaining two outfield starters, and sub keeper Cameron Baker-Owers getting a couple of minutes at the end of the game, only to remain rooted to his line as three consecutive corners into the six yard box were capably dealt with by his defenders.
Certainly not a classic game, by any measure, but it was a reasonably absorbing 90 minutes for such an early pre-season tie. Both sides will take positives, with Hendon getting those early minutes out of the way and settling in and Boreham Wood taking away a clean sheet. Perhaps early signs of things to work on too though - neither side was able to force the pace particularly following those initial twenty minutes, and for Wood there could be a worry that the inability to put away the early chances could haunt them come the start of the season. Both managers appeared happy at the final whistle though, and there's plenty of time to iron out those early issues.
Now just that cycle ride home to think about...
And so it was that I ended up looking forward to the announcement that Hendon would be starting our pre-season this year at Meadow Park - not only less than five miles from my flat, but also tied in with the chance of meeting up with Rich (WeAreTheWood), with whom I formed a formidable defensive partnership for 3 non-competitive games in 2010 and have shared far more sambucas than is good for any aniseed hating man.
Unfortunately, plans to meet up beforehand for a few brews went awry when it turned up that through a spectacularly bad piece of planning, this was the one pre-season fixture that Rich wasn't going to be able to make - leaving me to concoct something approximating a report in his absence. With the relatively short distance involved, I decided this might be a good time to dust off the bike and cycle over to Borehamwood, neglecting to remember that I hadn't cycled for two years and virtually the whole journey was uphill. Nonetheless, 25 minutes later, and with a great deal of effort expended, I arrived early enough to spot both squads warming up in Meadow Park. A quick look for new faces warming up with the Hendon squad (spotting surprisingly few) and a wander past the 3G pitch on which Wood's PASE side were in the middle of a game of their own (4-1 down unfortunately) and I headed in - through the exit gate so I could keep hold of my bike - and round to the far side to await kick off.
Wood lined up with what looked to an unseasoned observer to be a strong side on paper, including a combination of both names known to me previously - the likes of Ali Chaaban, Luke Garrard and Daniel Braithwaite all having lined up against Hendon more than once in the past - and trialists previously unknown to me, although with no worse a pedigree; Luke Wilkinson and Moses Ademola all having recently turned out previously at Farnborough, Dagenham & Redbridge and Woking respectively. The visitors only had two new faces in the first eleven, midfielder James Archer and former Wood defender both on trial.
The home side unsurprisingly started by far the stronger with 180 minutes of football already under Boreham Wood's belt, while Hendon looked as ring rusty as you'd expect from a side who haven't played in over two months and Chaaban was at the centre of much of the early play. It took just three minutes for him to force a save from visiting 'keeper Barclay Laurencin and within three more minutes he had the ball in the net. Charlie Hunter threaded the ball through to Ademola who reached the ball just ahead of a hesitant Laurencin. Ademola was brought down just inside the area and Chaaban made no mistake with his penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way.
Wood continued to dominate the early exchanges and spurned several chances to extend the lead, with Chaaban continuing to pull the strings on the right wing, delivering a number of dangerous balls into the box. Around the quarter hour, yet another delivery from wide found Ademola in the middle of the penalty area and the trialist had the presence of mind to play the ball behind him to help it to David Bryant, unmarked at the far side of the six yard box. Unfortunately for the home side, Bryant spurned the chance and blazed over when it looked easier to score before Daryl McMahon made Laurencin plunge to his left to prevent the second.
Midway through the half, the Greens began to find a little rhythm and began to compete, with the remainder of the half largely being seen out in midfield. Boreham Wood certainly still dominated possession, but the leaks in the visiting defence had been plugged so they were reduced to long range pot-shots which failed to trouble the goal.
The second half saw a raft of substitutions that Sven Goran Eriksson himself would have been proud of, Hendon making seven changes and Boreham Wood three at the interval. Both sides were evidently weaker overall for the changes, but the match opened out, with the odd chance being created at either end. Hendon's best spell came early in this period, with a couple of comfortable saves forced from Michael Jordan, but more impressively, despite the lack of work throughout the game, the keeper had stayed alert enough to be able to intercept a dangerous through ball to young forward Aaron Morgan - had the bustling striker got there first, he'd have been favourite to equalise.
Six more changes were made between the two teams on 70 minutes, five for Wood and old fan-favourite Junior Lewis making his return for Hendon after the best part of a decade at a whole series of clubs with Peter Taylor. The changes certainly reinvigorated the home team, with Lewis' first contribution having to be a thumping defensive header to clear a dangerous looking set piece, and Simeon Akinola forcing Laurencin back into work. However, neither side managed to bother the other unduely in the remainder of the game, the only real points of interest late on being a further three substitutions - Hendon replacing the remaining two outfield starters, and sub keeper Cameron Baker-Owers getting a couple of minutes at the end of the game, only to remain rooted to his line as three consecutive corners into the six yard box were capably dealt with by his defenders.
Certainly not a classic game, by any measure, but it was a reasonably absorbing 90 minutes for such an early pre-season tie. Both sides will take positives, with Hendon getting those early minutes out of the way and settling in and Boreham Wood taking away a clean sheet. Perhaps early signs of things to work on too though - neither side was able to force the pace particularly following those initial twenty minutes, and for Wood there could be a worry that the inability to put away the early chances could haunt them come the start of the season. Both managers appeared happy at the final whistle though, and there's plenty of time to iron out those early issues.
Now just that cycle ride home to think about...
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