Heybridge manager David Greene apparently sells photocopiers for a living, and recently negotiated a deal with his employers that will benefit the club financially for every new machine sold by him.

A novel way to bring much needed funds into one of the Premier Division's poorer relations, but on the evidence of last Saturday at Scraley Road, it was easy to see why this season will not be a carbon copy of last, when the Swifts flew to previously unknown heights.

Workmanlike Wood duplicated the outcome of so many of their past visits to this windswept corner of rural Essex, recording their sixth win in ten league clashes there, and in so doing notched up their best sequence of the campaign so far, with four successive victories in league and cup. It was enough to leave Mr Greene crying into his bottles of toner.

On a day which one wag in the crowd dubbed: "A wigwearers' nightmare," both sides had to contend with the elements just as much as each other, and the close proximity to the ground of the River Blackwater estuary meant that a gusting gale linked with a low watery sun to make things difficult for the players.

The poor condition of the usually billiard table-like Heybridge surface further dented any attending purists' hopes of flowing football, but Wood adapted to the conditions better than their hosts, and should have won far more comfortably than they eventually did.

With suspensions ruling out Dave McDonald and Jeran Meah, Chris Harvey, nephew of joint manager Lee, made his full debut for Wood and young Sam McCarthy retained his place in the starting line up after recent good performances.

Corey Browne should have scored twice in the opening six minutes as Wood started in a businesslike mood.

With only 45 seconds on the watch Dominic Grime threaded the ball through to the former England non-league international, but he put a weak effort off target.

Then it was Gary Dixon's turn to provide the opportunity, as his ball in from the right saw Browne's first effort blocked by Matt Greenley, only for the rebound to be smashed high over the bar with the net awaiting punishment from the big man.

Swifts went close in the 14th minute when leading scorer Paul Abrahams hooked wide as the visitors failed to clear Pollard's corner.

This heralded their only dangerous spell, and Abrahams' clever ball inside McCarthy put Danny Roberts clear to cross dangerously, but Noel Imber was equal to Chris Payne's powerful shot.

Imber then saved from Abrahams, but Brian Jones extended Greenley at the other end, before the Swifts keeper did well to deny the toiling Browne once again.

The half time tea was being poured out when Wood finally took the lead in added time at the end of the first period.

Jones was the architect, as his strong run took him deep into home territory. His pass found Browne, whose shot was charged down, but the ball sat up nicely for the supporting Grime to lash high into the net.

Wood therefore emerged from the dressing room after the break full of confidence, but were left to thank Imber's quick reflexes in the 51st minute, as he stretched out a foot to make a crucial stop from Kevin Budge, who had beaten the Wood backline and had only the keeper to beat.

The importance of Imber's intervention was underlined a mere three minutes later, when Lee Harvey rose unchallenged to thump home a powerful header from Phil Mason's corner for number two.

There was no looking back from here, and Wood's simple but effective brand of football began to dominate the exchanges.

Substitute Steve Sinclair took the chance provided by the home side's deflation to show off his ability, and one jinking run through a forest of Heybridge defenders on the hour ended with Dixon curling a shot just wide of the far post.

The comprehensive nature of this result will surely give Wood and their fans fresh heart, not only for the remainder of this season, but for the next one as well.

Joint boss Micky Engwell said afterwards: "It's all about confidence, and we are now showing what we can do when our whole squad is available.

"Although we missed both Dave and Jeran today, the lads did very well, but discipline continues to be a big problem for us, Lamby [midfielder Paul Lamb] starts a suspension next week.

"We'll have to drum it into the players that we need them to stay out of trouble!

"The weather today made it a bit of a lottery, but we got the ball down and played football. We could have been three up before we scored.

"Corey worked very hard without getting his reward, but I must also mention Noel's vital save early in the second half that was a bit of a turning point.

"We changed things at half time, going to four at the back, as I thought they were starting to give us problems on our left side. But overall we looked a lot stronger than Heybridge and totally dominated the game, I thought."

Another cheering aspect of a very successful afternoon for Wood was the return of Andre Delisser. The winger badly broke his leg on the season's opening day, but returned to the squad at Scraley Road as a non-playing substitute.

WOOD: Imber, Grime, McCarthy (Sinclair, 46minutes), C Harvey, L Harvey, Wotton, Lamb, Mason, Dixon, Browne, Jones (Eberendu, 82minutes). Sub (not used): Delisser. Booked: Browne.

Heybridge Swifts 0

Boreham Wood 2

Ryman League Premier