Boreham Wood kickstarted the defence of their National League Cup crown with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Leeds United Under-21’s.
The two winners of this competition, which began in the 2024/25 season, met in the opening group stage match of Group C which will also see the Wood face the U21’s of Newcastle United, Everton and Middlesbrough.
The hosts flew out of the traps, buoyed by a dominant victory at FC Halifax Town, and Regan Booty drew first blood inside seven minutes as he headed home Danny Cashman’s pinpoint delivery.
After Tarryn Allarakhia came inches away from making it two with his venomous strike which went just over, Lewis Richardson doubled the initiative on the hour-mark. Oliver Bainbridge combined with the 23-year-old who angled in his cross from close range.
The Wood’s third was once again crafted through excellent combination play as Booty found Farhaan Ali Wahid, who emphatically dispatched past Robbie Cook with composure and confidence, to notch his first goal on his first start.
They were now in the midst of a goal-scoring exhibition which showed no signs of letting up as Allarakhia and Richardson notched to make it five just before the break, with the former netting a stunning strike into the top corner after cutting inside on the right.
Wholesale changes were made throughout the second-half as the young Whites got a foothold in the game, showing impressive attacking play in goals from Sam Chambers and Josh McDonald.
Those two goals counted as mere consolations though as Luke Garrard’s side got their National League Cup campaign off to the perfect start ahead of a trip to Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.
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