Boreham Wood 3-0 Newport County: Luke Garrard’s men stun Exiles to book third-round spot 

National League Boreham Wood booked their place in the FA Cup third round as a confident display saw them brush aside League Two strugglers Newport County 3-0 at Mangata Pay UK Stadium.

Jeff King and Regan Booty scored first-half goals for the hosts before Matt Rush added another after the break to confirm their success.

Victory saw the Wood reach the third round for the first time since the 2022/23 season, while Newport are still waiting for their first win under recently-appointed boss Christian Fuchs.

Garrard voiced his delight with the result and performance, saying: “The best thing for me now is I can sleep because I don’t need to go through anything in my head – we won 3-0.

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Ruthlessness

“We said about having ruthlessness and we said they’re in a little rut, winning one of their last seven.

“You have to appreciate they are struggling and you can either aid or sort of get on top of a team.

“If you’re going to get the first, it’s really important to get the second because I think it’ll take the wind out of their sails.

“Getting the third after half-time was massive.”

Match action

Newport had early chances when Boreham Wood goalkeeper Ted Curd denied Gerard Garner, before Nathaniel Opoku hit the post.

Boreham Wood took the lead in the 32nd minute when Nik Tzanev denied Abdul Abdulmalik’s initial strike, but a sliced clearance by Habeeb Ogunneye fell for King to thump the ball home.

The hosts came close again, with Tzanev denying Zak Brunt and Erico Sousa.

However, a second Wood goal came three minutes after their first. Booty scored the strike that made it 2-0 as he converted Brunt’s cross.

A third goal came just before the hour mark as top scorer Rush received Sousa’s pass, charged forward and netted to put the score beyond doubt.

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