Northwood 1 AFC Dunstable 0

Northwood 1-0 AFC Dunstable

29th December 2024

A very hard fought battle on an absolute pudding of a very muddy pitch saw AFC come away empty

handed – not how we would have wanted to end the year.

First chance fell to Kyle Lynch with just a couple of minutes on the clock following a nice passing

move but the final shot was just over the bar. Two minutes later Northwood were unlucky not to

take the lead following a good save from Matt that rebounded to their striker who could only rap

the ball against the post and away to safety.

The pivotal moment of the match came on 5 minutes. Northwood had the ball in the AFC area and

their player was running it in from the angle of the box. Bruce unfortunately tripped him up for a

penalty – the easiest decision the referee had to make all afternoon. The penalty was well

dispatched by Troy Perez-Duah as Matt dived to his right, he put it in the opposite corner. 1-0 down.

The rest of the first half was pretty even. Matt made a fine save on 8 minutes from a shot from the

edge of the box – pushing the ball over the bar with good technique. AFCs turn next – 3 minutes

later a great ball in to the box from Rico was met by Tali but he somehow managed to toe the ball

wide of the post – it looked a goal all the way – not sure how it did not hit the target – definitely

should have been the equaliser. With 21 gone Northwood took advantage of some poor AFC

defending but the shot was well held by Matt. A minute later Tali hit a free kick from 25 yards that

was well saved by the home keeper. Some lovely wing play from Kwad on 28 minutes ended with a

cross shot that had a bit too much pace on it and it flew across the face of the goal and out for a goal

kick. The final chance of the half came just as we went in to 3 added minutes and saw Rico chasing

his own header in to the box but the keeper just got there first. Half time 1-0 to Northwood.

The second half was more of the same – half chances for both sides. With six minutes of the half

Ollie ran through towards the Northwood area and looked to have been tripped on the edge of the

box but no free kick was given (no booking for Spicer either, so the ref did not see it as a dive – a bit

of an odd situation). Five minutes later Rico played in a lovely free kick which Harry met with a diving

header but the ball ended up well wide of the goal.

With 73 on the clock a nice flowing move saw Kyle Lynch hit a shot from distance that went just

wide. It was Kyle’s last contribution of the match as he was replaced a minute later with what looked

like a groin strain(?), presumably picked up when he had the shot. It was not all AFC at this stage of

the game – a minute later there was a clearance off our goal line during a Northwood attack.

The game had become a real midfield battle and Ollie was starting to see a lot of the ball in midfield

with good effect – 3 home players went in to the book in quick succession for desperate fouls on

Ollie as he surged forward. Harry had a great chance when chasing a through ball from Kwad but his

shot was well saved by the keeper. Russell had a couple of half chances towards the end of the game

but could not convert them.

Northwood should have doubled their lead and put the game to bed just as we went in to added

time when their player had a one on one with Matt but he managed to put the ball wide when it

looked easier to score. Just after that the referee blew his whistle for the end of the game.

MOM as voted by the committee was Harry Riley

Team line up (subs in brackets); Matt Bonsu, Bruce Ovbiye-Nsang (George Joyce HT), Kwadwo

Bugyei-Kyei, Kyle Lynch (Ben Lynch 74), Stan Georgiou, Harry Riley, Ollie Spicer, Charlie Davis (Russell

Berko 61), Tali Jallow (Sean Duodo HT), Rico Greco, Tommy Blennerhasset (Kyle Brooks HT)