The Wood Are Good

Boreham Wood 2-1 Carlisle United (National League)

I’ve been looking to chalk off Meadow Park for a while now, not just because I’m yet to visit the home of Boreham Wood, but because their team under Luke Garrard has over the last couple of years became one of the most attractive football teams in the National League to watch.

Abdul Abdulmalik was recently sold by the club to Swedish top tier team Djugardens for a non-league record £1.5m which surpasses the £1m Leicester City once paid to then non-league Fleetwood Town for Jamie Vardy.

After all, the fifth tier of English football has some serious talents and in last season’s top scorer Matty Rush (33 in all competitions) and in their talisman number eight Zak Brunt (previously of Man City, Man Utd and who once trialled as a teen at Atletico Madrid) Boreham Wood have two stars (remaining) who are hoping to help their club to promotion this season.

Last year it was missed by a whisker as they conceded late in the playoff final at Wembley against Rochdale who would reach the football league on penalties, this season they already top the division with four wins and a draw so far.

Another promotion candidate Carlisle United haven’t quite had it their own way since sacking Mark Hughes and going again under a new Manager in Rob Elliot who they took from Gateshead, tenth ahead of kick off they sit on eight points from five played but beat Scunthorpe United impressively on bank holiday Monday to go into this game live on DAZN with plenty of confidence.

I’m out the door for 1pm as it’s a good couple of hours to the south Hertfordshire town from my manor, down the M1 and off at junction 8 through the pretty looking Frogmore and Radlett which is busy with al fresco diners and coffee drinkers sat outside independent chains on its high street.

I’ve more than enough time to park up a walkable distance from the ground on Winstre Road. It’s a bit of a housing estate but it’s a nice day so I decide to take a walk around the pretty looking Aberford Park where there’s a couple of girls having a picnic, some guy sat on a bench taking it all in, two lovers cuddling and laughing on the bank as I walk past a dad and his lad feeding the ducks. It’s lovely out, warm, sunny, I’m in t-shirt and jeans and I’ve probably over done it, not realising how warm September could be, as I walk the last few hundred yards down the Hartforde Road still a good hour and half until kick off.

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The Venue

I’m past the houses down the Brodewater Road and I can see that I have arrived thanks to the huge sign on a brick wall that simply says ‘Boreham Wood Football Club’. It’s a modern home from the outside, sleek looking and impressive, you feel some money has been spent here in recent seasons.

There’s a ticket office in a portacabin as I walk through the car park so I ask if my name is on their list, whilst I wait for confirmation I speak to one of the Carlisle media team who’s collecting his pass, they arrived yesterday and trained before stopping in a hotel last night, but will be going back straight after full time, a 300 mile 5 hour drive that will see them back in Cumbria for well past 1am on Sunday morning.

My names not down, new season, same old, but the nice lady in the ticket office gives me a pass anyway, this after hugging a fella who comes over to her from nowhere and says, ‘I nearly forgot’. It turns out to be a pre-game ritual. “Does it work?” I ask her… “It seems to” is her reply.

I’m pointed through a black gate in the corner of the ground and walk into the stadium by the North Bank Terrace, a new looking bar with Sky Sports screens is packed inside, called the Glass House it has fans congregated watching the 3pm results come in.

No time for beer, I’m heading around the back of the goal, pitch is looking absolutely superb under the blue skies, the venue is smart, fresh, I’m heading for the West Stand where I’m seated, a quirky grey roof over black and white seats, the press area is magnificent, right on half way you are sat just on top of the dugouts, practically in them, you feel part of the back room staff, well positioned with a great up close but perched view of the pristine playing surface in front, the North Bank now to my left, an open end with Carlisle fans making their way around to my right, opposite is a smaller seated stand with the players changing facilities to the right of that.

The Game

I’ve had a word with the Carlisle media man on their formation and ask him, “are you playing five at the back today?” his reply is “it’s a fluid formation” a 5-3-2 on paper but it’s a bit offset and disjointed as I’m about to find out.

The Wood Manager Luke Garrard is out early; he parks himself down on the ice bucket inside the technical area but not before he has a laugh and a joke with his players and does some dancing to a bit of tanoy music. He’s trim looking with groomed beard, finely pressed shirt and chinos, as opposite number Rob Elliot walks across looking relatively scruffy, bit of a belly in a casual Fred Perry polo. Despite his ruggedness he looks like a calm likeable fella, the sort you would go for a pint of mild with in the local working mans club, Garrard is the type who does shots before forcing you to follow him to a nightclub until 5am.

The action starts, and it’s bloody frantic, the tempo is frightening as the home side, top of the division, play intricate stuff in the opposition third, whilst defending the basics well under pressure. Carlisle are game, they look up for this as they look to release David Ajiboye out right, he’s often left alone with space and the visitors have a couple of sniffs which cause no trouble for Luca Gunter who’s a smart looking keeper on loan from Tottenham in the Boreham Wood goal.

Sat where I am I can’t help but hear every word from inside the dugout. Garrard is irate, he’s intense, he’s the sort of fella who might take it out on his Mrs when he gets home on a Saturday night if his side haven’t won. Elliot is calmer, less aggravated, he sits down and gets the odd order shouted out by his second in command, the two boxes are polar opposite, Carlisle's is relatively quiet, if Garrard is kicking every ball to the left, I’m wondering if Elliot is instead thinking “what’s for dinner later” sat down on his comfy padded seat? He’s the sort who’ll probably get home and win or lose, simply take out a beer from the fridge, order a curry, then give the wife a cuddle whilst watching a bit of Strictly together.

On the pitch its frantic but not much happens in a first half where two teams are cancelled out by some gutsy defending. Boreham Wood are brilliant in all areas, their Achilles heel perhaps their most experienced player at centre half in Chris Bush (who is by no means bad at all just a little shaky on the ball), they play a 4-2-3-1 and have some silky smooth operators in Danny Cashman, Tarryn Allarakhia and Brunt who are all looking for the movement of the ever-running Matty Rush.

Carlisle I’ve worked out are lopsided, three centre halves, a left wing back who’s not quite sure whether to stay or go, when Galvin goes his centre half Nicholson covers, a three man midfield is gelled together by the gorgeous looking Miguel Azeez, socks down his ankles he’s deep lying and does the doggy work but with some style, I seen him last season at Morecambe and really liked him, he looks like he’s up another level since moving to Brunton Park and I think there's even more to come.

Up top is George Kelly who I like as a number nine, a battling barrier he perhaps doesn’t get the goals his work rate should deliver but he always puts the effort in, the right side has Ajiboye teaming up with Josh Williams who’s often marauding down the wing.

The Score

Nil nil at half time as the whistle is blown and a spare ball quietly minding it’s own business on the dugout floor is thumped into my direction in anger by Luke Garrard.

He’s again out early from his pep talk as he sits on the ice bucket and takes a swag of water after patting the fourth official on his shoulder, before play starts as it did in the previous 45, frantic, full throttle, both teams going for the jugular.

It’s chaotic as Carlisle are trying to make three subs but only two can be made to the anger of the dugout below, Teddy Jenks a new signing from Worthing is made to wait, and in that time the player he was supposed to replace, scores the opening goal, Stephen Wearne inside the box after Carlisle capitalise on a poor goalkeeping clearance, the midfielder taking a touch and curling home low to send the 522 away fans into raptures.

The atmosphere is brilliant as the Cumbrians ramp up the noise to my right, they have deserved their lead for more than matching the best in the league, but there’s more chaos, Regan Linney has been told to go on, he’s on the sideline and is waiting a good ten minutes before any stoppages give Elliot time to make his change, Linney is chomping at the bit "I just want to go on" he says, you just know a goal will come and it’s another sub, on debut, Jay King who’s on the end of a curled cross by Zak Brunt. Linney is still waiting, now with the score 1-1 he and Cameron Harper finally get to go on.

It feels odd, a pre-planned substitute which Elliott probably didn’t have the balls to reconsider following the equaliser, by now the shape and the focus is lost on Carlisle, for much of the game causing problems going forward, defending dogged, not always at ease, but now it’s the home team on top, Tarryn Allarakhia rummaging down the right, cutting in to curl a shot from range which is brilliantly saved by Desbois.

The smartest player on the pitch though? Zak Brunt is quick to run over and take the following corner, he crosses an inswinger to the front post and it looks to have gone straight in, James Clarke is running away arms a loft, but the final touch is off defender Jack Ellis, the home support are buzzing, loud, Boreham Wood have turned things around, and it’s they who stretch their unbeaten start to six games this season.

The Stars

I really don’t think there’s a weak position in this Boreham Wood side, all comfortable on the ball, they understand the game plan and clearly know their roles set out by Luke Garrard, to play an attractive progressive way and in knowing that if they don’t do things right on the pitch, they’ll get a bloody big kick up the backside.

The highlight? Zak Brunt is a really lovely player to watch and I’ve seen him come on over the years to be arguably now the National League’s best player, an eight, or ten, who finds pockets, who is on a top level wavelength and who makes things happen in and around the box with passes that even Paul Scholes would be proud of.

It wasn’t a day for Matty Rush who ran his socks off, but Boreham Wood brought on something different late on, a bigger target man in Jay Bird looks a savvy signing from Salford, but the heartbeat of the club, the midfield, where Regan Booty and Tom White work hard, in front of a back four which not only offers protection, but is also useful at the other end from set plays, Chris Bush and Charlie O’Connell are reliable stalwarts who offer height from goalscoring opportunities, James Clarke is a forward running full back I’ve liked since his days at Mansfield, signed from Solihull in the summer he can also pop up with headed goals, Ollie Bainbridge is a left back released by Sunderland, he broke his non-league virginity at South Shields on loan last year and has stepped up this season with what I thought was a brilliant performance up against a really quick winger in Ajiboye (before another speedster in Junior Luamba came on).

As for Carlisle, not quite sure on their formation and I was surprised to hear that Elliot had took Brad Nicholson with him from Gateshead in the summer, a player who I feel is a very good step 2 footballer, is one I think is riding his luck at Carlisle, but next to him in defence, Morgan Feeney is the sort of centre half I would build my back four (not three) around, he and Jack Ellis (despite his own goal) are pretty solid and reliable for the level.

Players I like, Harvey Bunker is a good signing from Forest Green, he’s versatile and a goal threat from midfield, Stephen Wearne is that solid pro just getting on with stuff in the middle of the park, Miguel Azeez is one who didn’t have everything go his way, but who looks in a better side, to still be one of the better players, and indeed he wouldn’t look out of place playing for league leaders Boreham Wood.

The Verdict

Not a result Carlisle deserved as they played brilliantly for most of the match, but those incidents around not being switched on, not making subs when they should have, it all felt a little blasé and that might be the only reason they lost, their Manager Rob Elliot is a lovely bloke you can tell, but does he have that cutting edge? When compared to Luke Garrard, I know instantly who would get the most out of his players on matchday.

That intense mood of the Manager in never settling for second best is why Boreham Wood are going so strong, they play at a hundred miles an hour but they do it with quality and are brilliant to watch. I said last season they were the best team in the National League that I watched, and I certainly stick by that despite falling short to Rochdale and York, this season they are still the best, and I hope to see them promoted into the football league.

As for Carlisle, another club I actually really like, the friendly fellas from up north deserve to be back in the 92, my concern, with Elliot, I’m not sure they are good enough to do it? To get where they need to be, perhaps we might see a change in the hot seat sometime soon?

The Teams

Boreham Wood: Luca Gunter, James Clarke, Oli Bainbridge (Ty Golden 81), Tom White, Chris Bush, Charlie O’Connell, Zak Brunt (Lewis Richardson 90), Danny Cashman (Jay Bird 67), Tarryn Allarakhia, Regan Booty (Marley Marshall-Miranda 90), Matty Rush.

Carlisle United: Adam Desbois, Harvey Bunker, Morgan Feeney, Miguel Azeez, David Ajiboye (Junior Luamba 58), George Kelly (Regan Linney 81), Ryan Galvin (Cameron Harper 81), Bradley Nicholson, Jack Ellis, Stephen Wearne (Teddy Jenks 65), Joshua Williams (Leonard Duru 58).

5:30pm Kick Off. Saturday 5th September 2026, Meadow Park, Borehamwood (att 1,743).