Boreham Wood boss Ian Allison felt his side played better in defeat against Ebbsfleet United on Sunday than in their big win over Bishop’s Stortford on New Year’s Day.

The Wood were beaten 3-1 by big-spending Fleet on Saturday, having crushed hapless Bishop’s Stortford 5-0 away from home two days earlier.

A double from Billy Bricknell and a third from Anthony Cook cancelled out Graeme Montgomery’s strike to give Jamie Day’s promotion hopefuls all three points at Meadow Park.

Speaking to the club’s website, Wood manager Allinson said: “I thought we were excellent today and actually played better than in our 5-0 win at Bishop’s Stortford.

“We started slowly but soon played our way back into the game. We needed to be more clinical in front of goal. Sometimes you need luck to win matches and I feel they got that with their third goal.”

He continued: “That said we had an effort chalked out for offside that looked similar to their opener, which was allowed to stand.

“We have suffered a blip of late losing three out of five, but even if we had drawn those three matches it would not really affect out league position and we are now targeting maximum points from our next two games against St Albans City and Farnborough.”

Matty Whichelow went close early on for the Wood, curling a free-kick into the side netting before Fleet’s Daryl McMahon struck the post with a volley.

However the visitors did find the back of the net after 16 minutes. Sean Shields’ diagonal pass found the dangerous Tyrone Marsh, whose cross picked out Bricknell to turn home with ease.

Wood winger Whichelow twice went close to levelling for the hosts before the break but Allinson’s side could not find a way past Brandon Hall.

After the restart Ebbsfleet keeper Hall did well to punch a goal-bound Whichelow effort to safety before Wood stopper James Russell reacted well to deny Marsh.

But the Wood levelled when Whichelow evaded several challenges before crossing into the path of Montgomery to ram home the equaliser.

Conference South top scorer Lee Angol looked to have completed a quick turnaround two minutes later but the referee ruled the effort out for offside.

Marsh and Angol both traded chances before the Kent outfit re-took the lead in the 70th minute. Wood conceded a free-kick 30 yards from goal and the usually-reliable Russell spilled McMahon’s effort into the path of Bricknell to score from close range.

Three minutes later the game was over when Cook’s over-hit cross suddenly dropped in underneath the crossbar to seal the win for Day’s side.

Forty-eight hours earlier the Wood had been at their ruthless best to dispatch second-bottom Bishop’s Stortford, scoring three goals in eight minutes.

After a closely-fought first half in which two Angol chances had been the sum total of Wood’s presentable opportunities, the game burst into life in the second period.

The Bishops’ James Walker headed against Russell’s post – a let off for Wood and a miss which would prove costly for the home side.

Just three minutes later Ricky Shakes raced onto Sam Cox’s pass, outpaced his marker and dinked the ball over keeper Joe Wright to open the scoring.

Shakes then added a second just three minutes after his first. Angol breezed down the right flank before cutting back for the striker to double up.

Angol turned scorer soon after when he crashed a volley beyond Wright to make it 3-0 and take the game away from the Bishops.

With 16 minutes remaining a fourth arrived when Angol left his marker for dead before crossing low for Whichelow to tuck home.

Arsenal loanee Austin Lipman then took just 15 seconds to mark his arrival from the bench when he strode beyond two defender to power into the far bottom corner.

Conference South leaders Wood make the short trip to St Albans City on Saturday before travelling to Stevenage in the Herts Senior Cup on Tuesday.