A very young Woodford side, made up of reserve and youth team players, including Nathan Humphrey, son of the Daventry Town Chairman Iain Humphrey, battled well in the first half, preventing Daventry from scoring the goal, which would have opened the floodgates!
Daventry got a chance early in the game, to put themselves ahead, a long throw from Jamie Gould to Ashley Robinson, saw the striker turn and shoot swiftly, only to see his shot turned over the bar by the energetic Woodford keeper Ady Anderson.
Another effort by Robinson minutes later, saw Robinson head narrowly over the bar, after flicking on a header from Captain Guy Sanders.
A poor goal kick from keeper Anderson, three minutes later, saw the ball go straight to the feet of Yaz Hussain, who passed the ball quickly to Nat Liburd, whose shot was once again saved, by the relieved keeper.
Daventry continued to create chances in and around the Woodford box, but their efforts were either high over the bar or wide of the posts. Woodford created their first shot on the Daventry goal after twenty minutes, the young inexperienced side, finding it very difficult to get out of their own half, Daventry having the bulk of the possession.
Mykel Beckley managed to beat the Woodford keeper with a looping shot over the keepers head, but defender Paul Atley was able to clear his goal bound effort off the line, preventing Daventry from taking a desperately needed first half lead.
A couple of free kicks, taken by Jamie Gould failed to test the keeper, the first hit high over the bar and the second effort, straight into the defensive wall, then cleared to safety.
Adam Confue had the final effort for Daventry in the first half, heading past the keepers right hand post from about five yards, confirming a very frustrating forty five minutes for the Purple Army, who had come expecting to see a lot of goals!
Daventry had looked ` shot shy` for the first fifty minutes of the game, turning down the opportunity to shoot when those options were open to them, too often they wanted an extra touch or pass, when a first time shot on goal would have bought greater rewards.
The Daventry substitutions changed the game in the second half, as Woodford began to tire, Ryan Howell and Ross Oulton began to dominate play in the centre of the field and soon Daventry got their first goal, Yaz Hussain slipping a ball between the Woodford defenders, to the feet of Ashley Robinson, who hit his shot low under the diving keeper Anderson.
A few minutes later, Ryan Howell hit a sweet volley, which the keeper managed to hold on to close to his goal line and Anderson was called into making another superb save from Joss Holford, pushing his powerful shot over the crossbar, in the sixty fifth minute.
Substitute Scott Cross, on for Mykel Beckley, soon had an impact on the game too, struggling to retain possession of the ball, in the penalty area, the Woodford defenders made one too many desperate tackles on the determined striker and bought him down for a penalty.
Jamie Gould stepped up to convert yet another penalty this season, hitting the ball hard and high to the keepers left, giving Daventry Town the two goal cushion, which enabled them to play with a little less fear and even more confidence!
A cross by Ryan Howell a minute later, found an unmarked Nat Liburd, whose header sailed into a space in the top right corner of the keepers net, giving Town a three goal lead.
Woodford had their best effort in the second half, a great weaving run from Scott Baxter, ended with the young striker testing the Daventry keeper Richard Morris with a shot, Woodfords first effort in the second half.
Unfortunately, Baxter was injured, with about ten minutes still to play and despite treatment had to leave the field, leaving Woodford with ten men for the rest of the match, having used all of their substitutions earlier in the game.
It was left to the Captain Guy Sanders to score the final goal, a free kick which found its way through a jungle of players, to settle in the bottom left hand corner of the net, ensuring Daventry came away from their `pointless` neighbours, with all three points.
Woodford United had made a valiant effort, frustrating Daventry in the first half and keeping the score down to just four goals, having conceded thirty four goals, in their last four games, that was a huge achievement.
Well done Woodford, but lots more praise should go to Daventry Town, this local derby was always going to be difficult, but they deserved their victory at the final whistle.
Daventry were never going to lose this game, they had almost all of the possession throughout the match and Woodford didn’t create enough goal opportunities to worry Daventry keeper Richard Morris, who had a very quiet afternoon.

Next up at Communications Park are fourth placed Biggleswade Town, this Thursday (04/04/13), beat them and we shall be just six points behind them! Should be an exciting game!

JWD©