WOOD FEND OFF ALTY FIGHTBACK
BOREHAM Wood returned to winning ways in a remarkable game at fellow play-off chasers Altrincham.
Luke Garrard’s men dominated most of the match following the early sending off of Connor Hampson, but a late flurry from the Robins almost secured an unlikely point.
Wood’s first victory in three sees them leapfrog the Robins in the table but Garrard was critical of the way his side ended the game.
“You can’t do that 11v10,” he moaned. “We’ve let them back into the game. We need to be better at finishing teams off but that victory was hugely important.”
Wood were ahead inside seven minutes – a mistake by full-back Joel Senior allowed Jamal Fyfield in behind and he squared to Kane Smith to tap in from close range.
The high press from Wood caused Alty untold problems with Gus Mafuta and Corey Whitely both going close to doubling the visitors’ lead.
Alty, however, pressed thekir opwn self-destruct button on the half-hour when Hampson was then shown two yellow cards in the space of two minutes following heavy tackles on Smith.
Almost immediately, Wood doubled their lead when a Kieran Murtagh free-kick wasn’t cleared properly and Junior Morais’ shot was flicked in by top scorer Kabongo Tshimanga.
By now the visitors were in complete control and added a third straight after the restart – Tyrone Marsh’s corner was headed away by Tom Hannigan straight to Whitely, who struck a sweet half volley into the bottom corner.
What seemed like a rout was then amazingly turned on it’s head by a spirited Altrincham comeback. Matty Kosylo pulled one back with a powerful effort from the right of the box, which deflected into the corner on the hour mark.
At the other end, Marsh hit the bar from close range, and Whitely fired just wide, but the deficit was down to one goal with four minutes remaining when substitute Tom Peers chipped in Senior’s cross to set up a thrilling finale, but Wood just about held on.
Despite the result, Alty boss Phil Parkinson was upbeat, saying: “I’m really pleased with our character. A lesser team would’ve gone on to concede five or six, not us. But we left ourselves too much to do, 3-0 down with ten men.”
“I think the referee has made a mistake for the sending off, but we all make mistakes in our job.”
“We may have lost three in a row, but I think we we’ve put in some good performances, so I’m not worried. We’re just lacking fire power from the bench at the minute due to injuries.”
STAR MAN: Kieran Murtagh (Boreham Wood) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★ REFEREE: Tom Parsons