Boreham Wood 1 Staines Town 2 . . .

Ryman League Premier Division . . .

Wood went into their last home game of the season needing one point to guarantee their place in the Premier Division next season.

Unfortunately, the opposition was Staines Town, who themselves are pushing for the runners-up position behind champions Chelmsford City.

Staines attacked from the start and took advantage of some hesitant Wood defending to score twice in the first 15 minutes. From that point onwards, Wood recovered well and had most of the creative play, but could not find the back of the net.

The opening goal came after only nine minutes, when Richard Butler made ground on the right and crossed the ball to the unmarked Howard Newton, who slotted into the empty net from close range.

Within three minutes, Simon Thomas almost equalised for Wood, but his goalbound shot was deflected wide of the near post by a defender.

The visitors punished Wood with a second goal after 15 minutes, when Andre Scarlett forced his way into the penalty area and shot from an acute angle across Noel Imber and just inside the far post.

Wood started to recover and forced two successive corners, as Staines defended desperately.

The Wood pressure paid off after 22 minutes, when a long ball forward caused problems for the Staines defence, and leading goalscorer Thomas seized the chance to lift his shot over James Courtnage and into the net. It was a well-taken goal.

Soon afterwards, Chris Bangura headed the ball on for Thomas, but this time his shot was deflected wide of goal for another corner.

A Thomas pass sent Chris Watters clear but his left-footed shot went wide.

At the other end, a well-struck free kick by Dave Sargent brought a fine diving save from Imber. Steve Wales went close with a long-range shot and then Ryan Maxwell crossed from the right, the ball sailing over Courtnage and crashing against the crossbar.

Wood continued to attack after the break, but failed to finish. Fiston Manuella had a glancing near-post header from a Watters' corner headed off the line after 55 minutes.

Thomas hooked a shot wide and then Wood had loud appeals for a penalty turned down by the referee, when Matt Flitter appeared to handle the ball. A Danny Barber free kick was deflected wide of goal for yet another corner, as the final whistle approached.

With only ten minutes remaining, Wood sub Greg Morgan saw a long-range shot easily saved by Courtnage. It was just not going to happen for Wood on the night.

WOOD: Imber, Burgess, Barber, Manuella, Samuel, Watters, Wales, Maxwell, Thomas, Bangura, Burrell (Morgan 80). Subs not used: Atta, Reynolds.

JOHN D GILL