We were pegged back twice on a blisteringly hot day at Meadow Park.
With temperatures reaching 34 degrees, Ruben Rodrigues kept his cool from the spot to hand us an early lead only for Danny Elliott to scramble home an equaliser before the break.
Kairo Mitchell then put us back in front with a stunning finish off the bench, only to then concede a penalty which allowed Tyrone Marsh to earn his side a share of the spoils.
Luke Williams named an unchanged squad after overseeing a dominant 3-0 win over Maidenhead on the opening day.
That meant there was no room on the bench for Aaron Nemane, available again following suspension, or Tobi Adebayo-Rowling as Joel Taylor continued at right wing back following his wonderful goal last weekend.
And this match began with us once again assuming full control and within six minutes our early pressure told when Rodrigues’ low shot escaped the clutches of Nathan Ashmore, provoking the predatory instincts of Macaulay Langstaff who scampered on to the rebound. A tussle ensued with players going to ground and the referee spotted a handball before pointing to the spot. Rodrigues sent the keeper the wrong way to give us the dream start.
We continued to dominate and Langstaff nearly made it two on 11 minutes when his left-footed snapshot nearly caught Ashmore out, drawing a smart reaction save low down.
The hosts had to wait until the 32nd minute for their first shot on target – a scuffed Danny Newton effort which proved to be his final action of the game as he hobbled off with Marsh replacing him on 34 minutes.
Seconds later we had a huge chance to double our lead when Rodrigues played Adam Chicksen in down the left. The wing back’s low, teasing cross to the back post looked perfect for Langstaff but a defender managed to get goal-side of the ball and put the striker off his finish.
That proved to be a turning point in the half as, two minutes later, former Magpie Zak Brunt broke the offside trap to go through on goal. The bouncing ball slowed him up but he managed to wrong-foot recovering defender Aden Baldwin to free up space for a shot inside the area, only to drag the ball wide.
It was the spark Wood had desperately needed and, after Slocombe had tipped Marsh’s attempted lob over his crossbar, the hosts were level from the subsequent corner as Elliott was first to the ball to score after Chicksen had blocked a shot.
There were no changes at the break and we were the first side to threaten in the second half as Rodrigues picked out Langstaff in the area. His shot from a tight angle was blocked by Jamal Fyfield.
We went long shortly before the hour, Slocombe picking out Chicksen’s run brilliantly and the wing back taking the ball in his stride to give himself a shooting chance inside the area. Ashmore was able to make a good save.
Matt Palmer and Mitchell were then sent on in place of Jim O’Brien and Sam Austin, and shortly afterwards we let a good opening pass us by as Rodrigues burst into space down the left but failed to pick out Austin who had peeled into a threatening central position with the home defence scrambling to recover.
Moments later there was more frustration for Rodrigues who came within inches of supplying Taylor inside shooting range only for a defender to make a superb intervention.
You could sense our second goal was coming, however, and it did on 68 minutes as Langstaff received a throw in and played the ball into Mitchell’s feet 22 yards out. The forward spun gracefully on to his left foot and produced a wonderful finish into the bottom corner to deservedly restore our lead.
Unfortunately, we were unable to press home our advantage and shortly after Baldwin had to recover to make a crucial challenge after letting the ball run over his foot he was substituted with an injury, later confirmed by Williams to be a sore Achilles.
Geraldo Bajrami replaced him and a nervy moment followed between him and Slocombe as a loose ball in the area go wasn’t dealt with, leading to Erico Sousa’s shot being well turned behind by Ed Francis.
And we were kicking ourselves as, from the resultant corner, a harsh-looking penalty was awarded against Mitchell for pulling back an opponent in the area. Mitchell saw yellow and could only watch on as Marsh confidently converted the penalty.
With seven minutes remaining the game was now anyone’s and Langstaff was cruelly denied a dramatic winner when a defender did brilliantly to block his near-post shot following good wingplay by Taylor.
And moments later we came agonisingly close once again when Mitchell showed terrific feet on the edge of the box before bending a shot just wide.
We had one final chance to win it in the 90th minute when Rodrigues worked space for a shot in the area but Ashmore was equal to it and, on a day when the hosts had a couple of goals ruled out for offside, both teams had to settle for a point.
STARTING XI: Slocombe; Cameron, Baldwin (Bajrami 77'), Brindley; Chicksen, Taylor; Francis, O'Brien (Palmer 59'), Rodrigues, Austin (Mitchell 59'); Langstaff
UNUSED SUBS: Vincent, Scott
BOOKINGS: O'Brien (21'), Baldwin (54'), Francis (66'), Mitchell (82'), Taylor (90+2')
ATTENDANCE: 1,303 (537)