Boreham Wood 2 Arsenal 5

The sun shone benevolently on Boreham Wood FC's 50th birthday party on Friday evening, and a new ground record of 2,832 played their part in celebrating the occasion alongside fans old and new, and players past and present.

A carnival atmosphere prevailed throughout, maintained beforehand by a Mr Motivator-style warm-up man on the pitch, and Ronald McDonald mingling with his public in the stands.

Cynical pre-match predictions of a repeat of last year's Chelsea debacle, when none of the advertised stars made an appearance, were dispelled with the announcement of the teams, proving Arsenal to indeed be as good as their word, as they fielded their strongest possible side.

Obviously missing their stars from France 98, the Gunners' line-up nevertheless comprised men who had each made significant contributions to their trawl of the major silverware last term.

England internationals, Dixon, Winterburn and Bould appeared, as did French caps Anelka and Garde, although published names Platt, who announced his retirement earlier in the week, and West Ham-bound Ian Wright, were missing.

Before the kick-off, Arsenal's double-winning manager Arsene Wenger officially opened Wood's splendid new East Stand, completed in only eight weeks, the embodiment of the club's progress and fierce ambition.

The FA Cup and Carling Premiership trophies were in evidence and home boss Bob Makin asked his illustrious opposite number for an autograph.

With each of the four sides of the pitch dominated by red and white, it was somehow appropriate that Wenger and his staff occupied the Home dugout, and the match began with the Premiership side predictably calling the tune.

Wood paraded new signings Mark Xavier and Paul Moran, but they had little opportunity to make an impression as Arsenal forced their hosts onto the back foot, and by the seventh minute they had opened up a two-goal lead.

Both strikes left Makin livid, and he said later that he was "disgusted" with the errors that led to each.

"It doesn't matter who you're playing against," said Makin afterwards. "Basic errors are just that. The players who made them have been around long enough to know better.

"What were they doing? It was worrying for me."

One must of course consider that Wood only began pre-season training three days earlier, and Arsenal provided a quality of opposition that will not be encountered in the coming months, but the Wood boss has his standards.

There were certainly questions to be asked of Martin Taylor's goalkeeping on each of the first two goals.

In the fifth minute, he appeared slow to react as Stephen Hughes' low shot from 20 yards lacked venom, but found the net via the base of the post, and then 90 seconds later Christopher Wreh made it 2-0, as he despatched a low drive past a sluggish Wood custodian, after Alan McCarthy had failed to adequately clear a break by Nicholas Anelka.

Taylor partially redeemed himself by gathering a Wreh lob after the Liberian international had intercepted a poor pass from Jason Shaw, and he later did well to get down bravely at the feet of Luis Boa Morte, after an impressive six man move had initially been thwarted as Remi Garde's shot was charged down.

Arsenal were camping in the home half at this stage, so it came as something of a shock when Wood had the audacity to halve the deficit in the 14th minute.

Young Austrian keeper Alex Manninger had remained unemployed up to the point where Shaw's attempt was blocked, but the ball ran behind the Gunners' defence for Rob Hollingdale to slide home.

Despite this intrusion, it seemed Wood were being the perfect hosts, and Taylor did well to deny Anelka after his clearance was blocked by his skipper Garry Nisbet, and Boa Morte chipped just wide as Arsenal's midfield dominance, masterminded by the exceptional Ray Parlour, continually exposed the home defence on the turn with some perceptive balls forward.

Taylor's forays to the edge of his area and beyond, such a feature of his play in Ryman League combat, were cruelly exploited by the Gunners as they underlined their superiority with two more goals before the break.

In the 26th minute, a brilliant 35-yard pass by Hughes sliced Wood open at the back, and Garde finished with a neat chip over the stranded keeper.

Then, after a spell of home recovery, Anelka caught Taylor in no-man's land again and made it four with a delicious lob into the corner.

Wood were offered the last word on the half, however, when Boa Morte pulled back Simon Ireland as he dashed into the box two minutes before the break, and St Albans referee Mr Cittenden pointed to the spot.

But the curse of the 12-yard mark, that manifested itself in no fewer than nine misses last term, returned to haunt Wood as Moran sent Manninger the wrong way, but put the ball wide of the right-hand upright.

Matthew Upson cleared a Xavier shot off the line seconds later, as Wood began to believe more in themselves it seemed, but Arsenal's defenders remained generally unruffled, their main worry being the loss through a toe injury of Winterburn.

However, this offered the crowd a view of new signing from St Etienne, David Grondin, and he became the first of a whole plethora of substitutes from both sides, no less than eight taking place during the break.

Poor Taylor could be excused developing a severe brand of paranoia, as early in the second half he was again left stranded, this time by a backpass from his own defender, Dave Hatchett, which struck the post, but overall the latter 45 minutes saw Wood acquit themselves very well, despite the absence of holidaying strikers Marshall and Samuels.

The introduction of the ever willing Paul Shaw gave the forward line an impetus lacking when Kerry Dixon had led the line, and only an excellent tackle by Upson denied him a clear view of goal in the 50th minute.

Another success was former Stevenage midfielder Matt Vier, who obviously lacked fitness but showed some neat touches.

Xavier had a shot deflected, and Steve Daly headed over as Wood began to enjoy more of the play with the Gunners experimenting with their line-up, and it was fitting that the impressive Daly, a Spurs supporter, crashed an 88th minute header past John Lukic from Hollingdale's corner.

But what Makin called "Arsenal's professional pride" meant that they retained a fierce determination to complete the scoring, and this they did in injury time with a blistering shot from substitute, Isiah Rankin.

What had been an entertaining evening had reached its conclusion, and Wood can rejoice in an event that served as a wonderful exercise in self promotion.

Bob Makin added: "Awareness is the crucial word and our players just weren't aware enough.

"I said to the players before the game: 'Respect Arsenal but don't fear them or give them too much room'.

"Hopefully, we've made a decent impression on them. It really was a great night for the club."

WOOD: Taylor, Daly, McCarthy, J Shaw (Vier 45mins), Nisbet (Hatchett 45mins), Hollingdale, Xavier, Moran (Miller 69mins), Dixon (P Shaw 45mins), Heffer, Ireland (Grime 45mins).

ARSENAL: Manninger (Lukic 45mins), Dixon (Crowe 45mins), Winterburn (Grondin 43mins), Upson, Bould, Hughes (Day 65mins), Boa Morte, Garde (Vernazza 45mins), Anelka (Black 65mins), Wreh (Rankin 45mins), Parlour (Mendez 45mins).

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