Cardea went into the game, held at Bushfield 3G, with an untried defence following various injuries and players on holiday but they made a fast start to the game and were 4-0 up in half an hour.

Mike Dandrilli and Daniel Robinson both had half chances to score in the first five minutes, but the deadlock was broken on 7 minutes when Aaron Yeoman's pass found Kynan Bereznyckyj in space and the winger lobbed the goalkeeper.

Bereznyckyj was involved in the second goal 5 minutes later when he turned provider for Dandrilli who managed to scuff a shot in off the post. It was 3 for Cardea just a minute later when Robinson was fouled in the box. Yeoman stepped up to take the penalty and found the top corner.

Daryl Patrick was clearing struggling with a rib injury picked up last week vs Fletton and had to come off, with Tom Greetham coming on in his place. Moments after Greetham came on he had a chance to score when he put a header wide.

Coming up to half an hour played Dandrilli picked the ball up on the left, cut inside and saw his 25 yard shot tipped round the post by the keeper, denying him what would have been "goal of the season" in Dandrilli's eyes. Just after the hour Dandrilli did have his second goal when he latched onto a big kick from Anton Fountain to lob over the keeper.

Woodston started to get a foot hold in the game, despite Cardea's first 30 minutes of dominance. The Woodston striker found himself one on one with Fountain and the goalkeeper made a good save with his feet. Straight after that Woodston were one on one again and, despite the offside flag going up, they went on to score this time. Cardea were furious that the ref had ignored the flag and Phil Brown's protests led to a booking for the defender.

The half time whistle sounded and Cardea led 4-1 but pressures were already starting to show on the makeshift defence.

The pressure told 7 minutes into the second half when a corner was only half cleared and the ball was volleyed in from 12 yards. The three goal cushion was restored though when, five minutes later, Bereznyckyj played in Broughton and from an angle he powered a shot past the keeper and into the back of the net.

Woodston scored a third on the hour mark and then a defensive mix up led to another Woodston goal 5 minutes later. With the score at 5-4 Cardea attempted to control the midfield by reverting to a 4-5-1.

Cardea were still creating chances though with Dandrilli firing a shot over and Patrick, who had been subbed back on, shooting wide. Woodston missed a guilt edged opportunity with fifteen minutes to go when they were one on one only for the ball to end up going wide.

There was one last drama in the last minute of the game when a scrappy passage of play ended up with the Woodston player through on goal, the offside flag went up but the ball finished up in the Cardea net. Would the referee ignore the flag for a second time? After a long wait the referee agreed with the linesman and the goal was ruled out.

Cardea managed to get hold of the ball and spent the remainder of added time with the ball in the opposition's corner. The referee blew the final whistle and it was the first 3 points of the season for Cardea.

The man of the match was awarded to Mike Dandrilli for his high work rate and good finishing. Dandrilli was pleased with his award but was quick to praise his team mates: "I couldn't have done as much as I did without the good movement and good play from the midfield and from my strike partner. We all linked up well when attacking."

Kevin Webster echoed this: "I thought we controlled the first 30 minutes well and deserved a 4-0 lead. We lost our heads a little bit but battled well and today's performance shows the advantages of a big squad. We lost some players throughout the week through injury and holiday but we won. That's what the season will be about, teamwork."

Cardea's next game will be Sunday 8th September against Peterborough Athletic at Werrington.