Boreham Wood 3 Altrincham 1

Alty came away from Boreham Wood empty handed as the hosts three-goal first half blitz secured the points at Meadow Park.

The Wood were the more fluent of the two sides for the opening 20 minutes, and brought Luke Hutchinson into the action after just three, when Matt Rush's drive was repelled by the Bolton loanee.

Femi Ilesanmi sliced an effort wide as the hosts continued to carve out half decent opportunities, before a third chance was duly taken.

Zak Brunt surged through the middle and slipped in Erico Sousa who dispatched his shot low beyond the dive of Hutchinson on 18 minutes.

And it was Sousa at it again 10 minutes later, doubling the home side's lead with an angled finish from 10 yards following more pressure in the Alty defensive third.

The Wood's third came on the stroke of half time after Kahrel Reddin was harshly judged to have fouled Abdul Abdulmalik, with the resulting penalty eased home by Brunt.

Alty began the second half on the front foot and tested the Wood backline early through a Reddin deflected effort and a Lewis Banks header.

The attacking pressure continued and when Jimmy Knowles let fly from distance to reduce the arrears on 58 minutes it looked like the visitors had a way back into the game.

A superb save from Finlay Herrick minutes later denied Knowles a second, as the pressure mounted on the home goal.

But the second goal just wouldn't come, as Wood weathered the storm before forcing a couple of excellent stops out of Hutchinson in the dying minutes. Lucas Weaver's late, harsh, red card for a challenge on Tom White made sure the afternoon ended on a difficult note for the Robins.

Boreham Wood Herrick; Ilesanmi, Bush, O'Connell, Sousa (Benton, 85'), Brunt, Abdulmalik (Clayden, 77'), King (Coxe, 64'), Reynolds (c), White, Rush (Dixon, 85'). Subs not used: Ashmore, Newton, Henry.

Altrincham Hutchinson; Banks, Baines (c), Osborne, Marriott (Weaver, 81'), Knowles, Reddin, Crawford, Golden (Reed, 56'), Barnes (Sassi, 90'), Kirk (Crankshaw, 56'). Subs not used: Cooper, Kosylo, Fallon.

HT 3-0

Goals Sousa 18', 28', Brunt 44' | Knowles 58'

Yellows O'Connell 45', King 56' | Baines 63', Reed 90'+1

Reds None | Weaver 90'+3

Referee Aji Ajibola

Assistants Stuart Butler & Nick Blogg

Fourth official Paul Kelly

Attendance 921 (80 away)

Next Up

Carlisle United are our visitors to The J.Davidson Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm) in the Enterprise National League.

Online tickets are on sale for home fans only here, with hospitality in The John King Lounge incredibly limited but still on sale here.