Boreham Wood made it two wins out of two in the National League Cup with a 3-1 victory against a West Bromwich Albion Under-21s team. Wood went behind in the first half through a Torin Ntege goal before Junior Dixon equalised on the stroke of half-time. Further goals in the second half from Charles Clayden and Erico Sousa were enough to secure the victory.

Luke Garrard shuffled his pack, with only Femi Ilesanmi, Chris Bush, Charlie O’Connell and Lewis Richardson starting from the team who began against Morecambe on Saturday.

It was an excellent opening to the match as both sides showed attacking intent. Aaron Henry went close on four minutes when his shot was deflected over the crossbar via goalkeeper Brian Okonkwo’s foot. Jon Benton forced a good reaction save from Okonkwo three minutes later. The Baggies had their first effort on goal on 16 minutes when Souleyman Mandey forced a good save from Nathan Ashmore. On 27 minutes, the visitors threatened again when Jack Bray had a shot cleared off the line by Femi Ilesanmi with Ashmore beaten.

On 35 minutes, the visitors took the lead when an uncharacteristic mistake from Chris Bush allowed Torin Ntege to run in and score. Three minutes later, Kevin Mfuamba fired over Ashmore’s bar. Boreham Wood were often sloppy with their passing out from the back and were nearly made to pay for this again when Mandey forced Ashmore into a good save on 44 minutes. In the second minute of time added on in the first half, an excellent pass from Henry picked out Charles Clayden, who fired just wide. Just before the break, Wood got a deserved equaliser when an excellent pass from the back picked out Benton, who headed across goal to Dixon, who made no mistake with his header.

HT: Boreham Wood 1-1 West Bromwich Albion U21

A minute after the restart, Mfuamba forced an excellent save from Ashmore, having shot through a crowd of players. On 50 minutes, Henry fired over from the edge of the penalty area. Boreham Wood started to dominate proceedings and were playing some nice football. They took a deserved lead on the hour mark – and what a goal it was. It started with an excellent cross-field pass from Henry, who picked out Jeff King. He played a lovely one-two with Benton, who played in Clayden to finish from close range.

Boreham Wood added a third six minutes later, when Erico Sousa played a lovely one-two with Junior Dixon before finishing well. This ended the game as a contest, as the Baggies couldn’t lay a glove on Boreham Wood afterwards. On 84 minutes, Joe Newton was just off target with a long-range shot. A minute later, Charlie O’Connell was just off target with a header. On 88 minutes, Zak Brunt hit a goal-bound shot which keeper Okonkwo somehow tipped over the bar.

FT: Boreham Wood 3-1 West Bromwich Albion U21

It was an excellent performance from a Boreham Wood side who had several players eager for minutes in Luke Garrard’s starting eleven. None of them did their chances of a regular start any harm.

Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Coxe, Ilesanmi (King 46), Bush, O’Connell, Benton, Newton, Henry (Rush 90+1), Clayden, Dixon, Richardson (Sousa 11, Brunt 71).

Subs not used: Abdulmalik, White.

West Brom U21: Okonkwo, Nelson, Humphries (Mohammed 74), Crowther, Diomande, Dupont (German-Ranger 73), McDonald (Maughan 60), Mfuamba, Bray (Chimeziri 73), Mandey, Ntege.

Man of the Match: Jon Benton.

Match report written by Brett Lewis.