Ricketts strike stuns Bournemouth and puts Boreham Wood in dreamland

When Danny Hunter took over as the chairman of Boreham Wood in 1999, he was working in the film industry as a prop master. He won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, he was a part of the team that made Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and there were plenty of James Bonds, too.

Were any of the silver screen dramas as gripping and outlandish as this? In the prickly heat of the moment, surely the greatest in Boreham Wood’s 74-year-history, the answer had to be no.

Under the astute management of Luke Garrard, who has been at the helm since October 2015, Boreham Wood have established themselves in the National League, the top tier of the non-league game – and on a relative shoestring budget. They have gone close to promotion to the Football League, losing the play-off final to Tranmere at Wembley in 2017-18, and they are well-placed for another push this season.

Garrard calls promotion the “Holy Grail.” This was La-La Land. Only three times previously have Boreham Wood taken a Football League scalp in the FA Cup – those of Blackpool in 2017-18, Southend last season and Wimbledon in the third round of the competition this time out. Those clubs were in Leagues One and Two.

But in Boreham Wood’s first ever fourth round tie, this was Bournemouth – a club that has designs on promotion into the Premier League, which recruited heavily in January to help them there.

Garrard’s team were deserved winners. They rode their luck at times towards the end but it was no siege. They had been the better team in the first half, Bournemouth shapeless and inviting boos from their support, with the goal coming on 38 minutes from the captain, Mark Ricketts – a precise low shot from the edge of the area after Bournemouth could not clear. Ricketts