The Bees welcome Boreham Wood to The Hive London tomorrow afternoon in their first game of 2019.

Darren Currie’s men go into the match off the back of a 1-0 victory away at Dagenham & Redbridge at the weekend. Shaq Coulthirst bagged the winner on 34 minutes as the Bees ended 2018 on a high.

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Last Meeting:

The last time these two sides met was only last Wednesday, the Bees falling to a 1-0 defeat at Meadow Park.

Bradley Ash netted the only goal of the game with two minutes to go meaning John Still’s side couldn’t secure back-to-back league victories.

Manager: Luke Garrard

Luke Garrard was appointed Boreham Wood manager back in 2015 after two years as Ian Allinson’s assistant. Prior to that though, he was the club’s Academy Coach before taking up the role as Academy Director in 2012. Last season proved to be Garrard’s most successful as Wood manager, guiding his side to a fourth place finish before losing 2-1 to Tranmere in the play-off final, the club’s first ever trip to Wembley.

The 33-year-old also played for Boreham Wood over two spells during a playing career that began at Swindon Town. He first arrived at the Wood after a brief spell at Bishop’s Stortford before leaving for Northwood shortly after. He joined AFC Wimbledon in 2006 where he went on to make over 100 appearances before returning to Boreham Wood in 2010.

One to Watch: Gozie Ugwu

Forward Gozie Ugwu joined Boreham Wood on loan from Chesterfield in the summer and has gone on to become an important asset to the team.

The striker has four goals to his name this season but has failed to find the net in six so he will be eager to return to the score-sheet tomorrow afternoon.

Injuries plagued his time at the Sprieites so he will be aiming to use this campaign to return to his best.

Recent League Form:

A win for the Bees tomorrow will see them leapfrog Boreham Wood in the table. Tomorrow’s opposition, who sit 10 points off the play-offs in 12th, have clinched two wins in their last five league games.

A 1-0 win over highflyers Leyton Orient at the beginning of December was followed up by two 1-1 draws away at Halifax Town and Braintree respectively. The Wood then beat us 1-0 four days later but will go into tomorrow’s game off the back of a 1-0 defeat at home to Maidstone United at the weekend.

As for their away form, The Wood have only managed three wins out of their 13 matches on the road this season.

They’ve also bagged 27 goals, two more than Barnet but have conceded more, letting in 28 in comparison to the 27 that have flown into the Bees’ net this campaign.

Last 5 league games: WDDWL

Connections:

Byron Harrison spent just under a year at Boreham Wood after signing in 2006 from Worthing. He bagged 13 goals for the Wood in 31 appearances.

Simeon Akinola, who returned from injury at the weekend, began his senior career at Boreham Wood, making his first team debut in 2011. During his time there, he was loaned out to Billericay Town and Harrow Borough and bagged two goals for the club before leaving in 2012.

Bees skipper Callum Reynolds captained the Wood to promotion from the 6th tier into the National League.

Mauro Vilhete was loaned out to Boreham Wood on three separate occasions from Barnet and scored 10 goals in 48 appearances.

Darren Currie is another who spent a brief spell with Boreham Wood. He joined the club in 2011 as a player and assistant manager but left after a matter of months to join Hendon.

As for the opposition, defender David Stephens spent three years at Barnet from 2012 to 2015 after signing from Hibernian. He was part of our conference winning side of 2015 and was named the club’s Player of the Season for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns. He made over 100 appearances for the Bees, netting three times before leaving to join the Wood in 2015.

Midfielder Tom Champion also joined Boreham Wood from Barnet, signing in 2017. He spent two years at the club and during that time scored two goals in 57 appearances. Whilst at Barnet, he was briefly loaned out to Lincoln City in 2016.