Meakin praises Northwood spirit

Oct 17 2012 By Zhen-Kuang Goh

Gary Meakin Image 2

BOSS Gary Meakin praised his side's second-half turnaround after watching Northwood hit four goals in 18 minutes to see off ten-man Woodford United.

The sides had gone into the break level at 1-1 after sloppy defending cancelled out Oliver Hawkins' sixth-minute opener.

Meakin said: “I think we kicked ourselves in the foot again, defending in the first half.

“Second half we came out much better and did things the right way. We punished them like we have been getting punished and didn't make any mistakes defensively.

“It was nice to get the three points; we could only have gone wrong by losing the game.”

It was the hosts who got off to the perfect start as Hawkins headed in just a minute after Woodford had hit the woodwork from a free kick at the other end.

But just 10 minutes later the league's bottom club – still in search of their first point this season – snatched an unlikely equaliser.

A cross from the left was dealt with poorly and defender Reece Yorke toe-poked it past his own goalkeeper, with Woodford's Tom Fountain claiming the last touch.

The match then descended into a cagey affair and the score remained unchanged into the break.

Northwood started the second-half with a bang as John Christian smashed it into the net from nearly 30 yards after a neatly-worked short corner.

And he doubled his tally three minutes later, volleying home following good work from Adamson Ajayi.

Less than ten minutes later, Christian turned provider for Ajayi, and Hawkins completed his brace by heading past Jamie Brassington after a cross from Jack Hutchinson.

Both Christian and Hawkins were replaced in a triple substitution moments but Meakin said both men being on hat-tricks was not important.

“I don't look at that,” he said “It's a team game. We had two centre forwards on the bench and that was it, I wanted to get them on the pitch.”

But there was still time for drama as Woodford substitute Scott Liebsher was sent off late on for an attempted off-the-ball stamp.