One month after Josh Landers scored for West Ham United against Boreham Wood in the National League Cup final, the Scottish starlet opened his account on loan at the latter from the former.
Landers made an ‘unbelievable’ impression at Meadow Park, albeit without finding the net in his first two appearances for a side dreaming of promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history.
The free-scoring West Ham United youngster would get off the mark on Easter Monday, though. Albeit not quite in the circumstances he was hoping for.
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Josh Landers’ first-ever senior goal was nothing more than a consolation in a 4-1 thrashing at Solihull Moors. Still, to quote Boreham Wood coach Luke Garrard, this was a rare ‘positive’ on an afternoon of very few plus-points.
West Ham United’s Josh Landers the ‘positive’ in Boreham Wood thrashing
After the ball dropped loose in the home penalty area, Landers reacted quickest, thumping a right-footed volley into the bottom corner.
“There’s a positive, Landers has scored his goal,” Garrard said, frustrated to see Boreham Wood’s goal difference take a hit just days after they put five past Wealdstone.
“Today, I hold my hands up. I’ll look at it, I’ll assess things, because maybe I should have made changes after winning 5-1. Who knows? But that’s my demons I’ve got to deal with.
“Landers getting his first goal? Brilliant. Great finish, really clean. He held balls up, ran into the channels… he’s a pest. You saw that even in the game in the National League Cup. So that is a positive.
“But yeah, a hugely frustrating afternoon.”
On his first outing at Meadow Park, Landers put West Ham 2-0 up and within touching distance of silverware. Pouncing on a defensive mix-up, he raced through and slotted a cool left-footed finish past the onrushing goalkeeper.
Snapped up from Hibernian 15 months ago, the Scotland Under-19 international is an emphatic finisher with both feet. He has scored 18 goals in 33 starts for the Hammers at U18 and U21 level, and now has one in just 32 minutes of senior football.
Landers ‘brings legs and energy’ to the National League side
One never really knows how ready a young player is before he embarks upon the first loan spell of his career. On the evidence of his first few weeks at Boreham Wood, Landers won’t be playing reserve team football for much longer.
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“Obviously, we have a great working relationship with West Ham. I want to thank them,” Garrard said last month, Boreham Wood having previously been trusted with the development of right-back Junior Robinson and FA Cup cameo-maker Finlay Herrick.
“Obviously, we’ve enjoyed watching [Landers]. I watched him closely with regards to the prep going into the [National League Cup] final. He gets his goal, assisted by our skipper…
“For me, he brings legs and energy. He went and did his ‘Bronco’ [fitness test] and he recorded an unbelievable score.”
“He’s coming to us fresh. I like the fact that he’s coming in with an eagerness, and we have him for the remainder of the season. I believe he’s going to have a massive impact on what we want to achieve.”
Despite a heavy defeat in the Midlands, Boreham Wood are still fourth in the National League table. They are already guaranteed a place in the play-offs, though they can earn a bye to the semi-finals if they can overhaul Carlisle United in third.
Landers’ fellow Scot Daniel Cummings has five goals in his last four West Ham U21 starts, meanwhile. With the former out on loan, the latter now has the chance to really nail down a starting role under Greg Lincoln.
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