Although the players showed spirit in the closing stages, there is no escaping the fact that for sixty minutes we produced an absolutely awful performance, as poor as I have seen in a long time. I thought we were very fortunate to get the point, although the manner of achieving it could lift spirits and prove a turning point.
I thought for the first twenty minutes we played well, making good use of the width offered by the full backs and playing some decent football. However, none of our balls into the box were attacked and I did not understand the logic of leaving Cook out of the side if we were going to play that formation: neither Norwood or Alibi are good in the air and their keeper was not tested during this positive spell. Having failed to score early on, confidence visibly drained from the players and the quality of our play deteriorated, with stray passes and no real pattern of play. Wood got in the ascendancy on the half hour mark and remained the better side until the final ten minutes. Their penalty resulted from a counter attack where McNulty was left exposed, and for the second they drove a coach and horses through the centre of midfield in the absence of Harris, very similar to the first goal we conceded at Eastleigh last week. Boreham Wood were well worth their lead at this stage.
The introduction of Cook on seventy minutes was the turning point in the game, and leaves me and 4,000 others scratching their head as to why he did not start the match. Our play was still scrappy, but our attacks finally had a focal point and we began to win more second balls in the final third. His first goal was a trademark header, and he won another aerial battle to set up Mangan for the equaliser.
There are many things wrong with our performances at the moment, the first of which is a chronic lack of confidence. However, if Mellon wants to keep his job I would suggest he buries the hatchet with Andy Cook and plays him on a regular basis, as without his goals and hold up play we will achieve nothing this season.
Individually, there were few good performances. Alibi did slightly better than in his previous appearances, but Norwood, Jennings, Hughes and Norburn were below par, among others. Credit has to go to Mitch Duggan, however, for a creditable display at right wing back. However, I will give man of the match to Andy Cook for rescuing a point, and to show my increasing frustration with the manager.