WOOD RHEAD PLAY-OFF SCRIPT

HE HAS won Nation-al League titles with Mansfi eld Town and Lincoln City – now Matt Rhead is after a promotion hat-trick after keeping Boreham Wood’s Football League dream alive.

- DAVID RICHARDSON

The burly 36-year-old striker headed in the winner ten minutes from time to complete the turnaround for Luke Garrard’s side and send them into a semi-final clash at Harrogate Town this Saturday.

Yet at half-time, their playoff campaign could well have been all but over after underdogs FC Halifax Town led through Tobi Sho-Silva and were twice denied by goalkeeper Grant Smith.

It was another Smith in the Wood ranks, right wingback Kane, who also played a major part by scoring the equaliser shortly after halftime via a big deflection off Shaymen centre-back Nathan Clarke.

Then, Rhead, who had struggled to impose himself in the tie, glanced in the winner from Sorba Thomas’s corner.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” he told The NLP. “It just shows the character of the lads today. We stuck at it, we were nowhere near where we’ve been in previous games but it was expected with the break we’ve had.

“Character is what you need to get out of this league. Every team I’ve played in that has been successful has had massive characters.”

Halifax had won the very first battle, turning Boreham Wood round at the toss to play with the wind and put the sun into the hosts’ eyes.

Both sides, officials and staff took a knee at the sound of the referee’s whistle to show their support of the Black Lives Matter movement.