Enfield Town 0 Boreham Wood 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

An in-form Boreham Wood showed just why they are one of the promotion favourites but there were plenty of positives to take despite another frustrating defeat in front of a 1000-plus Boxing Day crowd.

No-one would deny that our full-time visitors, accomplished on the ball and technically superior, had an assured look about them, hitting us with a first-half brace through top scorer Kwesi Appiah , then stifling any chance we had of getting back in the game.

Yet despite being the part-time side, we came on strong in the last 20 minutes without creating enough moments of danger to get back in the game.

After an initial period of shadow boxing, Lennon Peake had Town’s first chance on 14 minutes, shooting down the throat of Nathan Ashmore before Boreham Wood began to stamp their mark on proceedings in terms of possession.

It took a last-ditch tackle form Henry Hawkins to deny them and the same player came to Town’s rescue again after fine work by Wood’s eye-catching No. 26, Jayden Richardson.

Wood’s pressure told on 24 minutes when Femi Ilesanmi picked out Appiah with a sublime pass but he wouldn’t have been in possession of the football at all but for a poor clearance upfield from Rhys Forster whose handling was otherwise solid throughout.

Tom Whelan stung the hands of Forster and while they were monopolising possession, Appiah, in a rich vein of form, doubled his and Wood’s lead by heading home John Benton’s cross just before the break.

With the last action of the half, Anointed Chukwu, making his home debut, fluffed a golden chance to reduce the deficit from three yards when the ball arrived at his feet too quickly.

H-T 0-2

A home goal then would have set up the second half nicely. Instead Wood almost grabbed a third when a looping ball was cleared off the line just as Appiah looked like he was about to complete his hat-trick.

Suddenly, however, Town got some momentum going as Wood appeared to take their foot off the gas.  Hawkins  directed a header into the arms of Ashmore and a dangerous Billy Leonard cross was swept across goal with no-one on hand to convert.

Off-balance substitute Reece Beckles-Richards ballooned over before two defensive blocks in the Boreham Wood area and an Alfie Tuck drive that flashed wide completed a vastly improved second-half display.

But sadly not enough to sufficiently trouble a Boreham Wood side that, in truth, hardly moved out of second gear and whose unhurried approach and excellent reading of the game proved too big a hurdle to overcome.

While we are now a  concerning nine points behind fifth-from-bottom Welling, Gavin Macpherson – in his only  post -match interview on the day – was typically defiant ahead of the mother of all six pointers at St. Albans on New Year’s Day.

“Both goals were avoidable and once again we got punished,” said Gav. “I’m sick of losing in the same way but I have to draw on the fact that again the players have been immense in respect of application and desire.”

“Both teams had a couple of key moments but they put the ball in the net. That’s why the respective teams are where they are. I’m not going down the road of them being full-time team but they certainly didn’t have it all their own way.”

Gavin still fervently believes we have it in us to make up the ground.

“Of course it’s difficult but it’s certainly do-able. If I didn’t think I could get us out of this, I’d walk away because I’d think I was doing a disservice to this magnificent football club.”

Town: Forster, Parcell, Benjamin, Hawkins, Cox, Peake, Tuck, Leonard, Brown (Hutchinson 62), Youngs (Smith 72), Chukwu (Beckles-Richards 72).