NORTHWOOD 3 AFC 1

Northwood 3 AFC Dunstable 1 (0-1 Half time)

Southern League Central Division 1

Northwood Park, Saturday 15th November 2025.

Attendance –

Match report by Richard Church.

A couple of new faces on show today – Zack Braverman in goal and Gigi Gogia on the bench – welcome to the club chaps. Kick off was at 3.03 (as with all non league games today) to support the 3 up campaign. A decent start from AFC saw us pushing for the first 10 minutes but no real clear cut goalscoring opportunities. Northwood came back in to game at this stage and started to put a bit of pressure on although it was the ODs who created the first decent chance – a nice through ball to Tra saw him take the ball on his chest on 12 minutes and he then spun and attempted to lob the keeper but the ball landed just wide of the post.  With 20 gone, Northwood had a chance with a decent shot which forced a good save from Zack and the ball was cleared away by Shawn. Tommy had a chance a minute later but his shot was deflected over the bar. In an end to end period, Northwood had a golden opportunity on 27 minutes but a shot from 6 yards somehow struck the bar and fell for a shot on goal but another good save from Zack kept the ball out. Another chance for Northwood just after the half hour with a break down the left – Zack looked to go to ground a bit early but fortunately for us the ball was hacked clear.

Following some good work from Carms out on the left, he played the ball in to Tommy on with 34 gone. Tommy took the shot on first time and watched the ball just miss the far post – a very decent opportunity and unlucky from Tom. Four minutes later we won a free kick out on the right. George floated the ball in and Carms met it first time with a superb left foot volley in to the top right corner giving the keeper no chance. A definite contender for goal of the season! 1-0 to AFC at half time – Northwood probably shaded the half but Zack kept us in it.

Second half was definitely one to forget. Northwood came out with purpose and dominated the game. With 4 minutes of the half gone, they ran the ball in to our box following a good build up but they were a bit guilty of overplaying and eventually played the ball straight to George.  The visitors had a couple of early opportunities – Gigi had replaced Adam at half time for his debut and got a shot away early in the half but it was a bit of a soft grasscutter and it was a comfortable save for the keeper. On 8 minutes, Gigi played a ball in to Tommy who dribbled the ball in to the box but couldn’t get his shot off.

Jon Jo Bates was a real bright star for Northwood in the second half as he started to dominate proceedings and it was thanks to some great work from him on the left that they got the equaliser on 57 as he dinked the ball in to the near post and it was met by Dan Vincent with a diving header past Zack. Northwood definitely well on top and they should have scored again a minute later as their striker found himself running through one on one with Zack but he belted the ball high and wide. Northwood did take the lead on 25 with a sharp finish from that man Jon Jo Bates from an acute angle. Three minutes later Northwood went further ahead with an absolute worldy shot from distance by Dan Williams giving Zack no chance as the ball found the top right corner of the goal.

The game pretty much petered out from there – Northwood had more than done their job and fully deserved their first home league win of the season and send AFC in to the relegation places. An extremely disappointing and frustrating afternoon. Decent showing in the first half but a bit of a capitulation in the second half leads to another defeat. Very lacklustre effort from AFC and no energy.

Man of the match as nominated by the AFC committee was Maks for his impressive work and determination in midfield. Special mention for Zack for a number of excellent saves.

Team line up (subs in brackets); Zack Braverman, Axel Ampadu (Joshua Clark-Anderson 76), Carmichael Uchenna, Maks Jarzabek, Shawn Joseph, Ben Lynch, Tra Lucas (Avto Akhsiashvili 68), Abel Kyeremeh (Tyrone Shiham HT), Tommy Blennerhasset (Mwita Mgoyo 85), George Joyce, Adam Ahmad-Pearce (Gigi Gogia HT).