The National League has returned with a jam-packed August, with five matches, plenty of goals and even more opening month surprises than ever before.

Boreham Wood have bounced back from their play-off final defeat to sit top of the standings, closely followed by Sutton United who dropped points for the first time on Monday afternoon.

Newly-promoted Hornchurch have won four out of five in their first ever month in the division to complete the top three.

Elsewhere, Solihull Moors are the only side in the National League without a point – having lost all five matches and conceding 16 goals.

For all of our episodes, you can check out our YouTube and Spotify pages.

However, with the month of August now over, the National League Lowdown team have picked out their respective nominations for their Player and Manager of the Month awards, which are being put to the public to vote upon.

National League Lowdown’s Player of the Month:

To ensure fairness, each member of the team have picked out an individual player to put forward for voting.

• Dan (@DanTakesOnFooty) – Tristan Abrahams (Aldershot Town): The 27-year-old has already beaten his goal tally from the previous season in the first four games. Abrahams hit a hat-trick against Harrogate Town and now has five goals in four appearances as Aldershot sit just outside the play-off places.

On his reasoning for picking Abrahams, Dan said…

’Aldershot were tipped by a lot of people to struggle this season before a ball was kicked, but they’ve enjoyed a good start to the season and Abrahams with five goals is one of the main reasons for that.’

• Craig (@CPorte92) – Lewis Walker (Kidderminster Harriers): During the 2025/26 season, Walker was forced to wait until January to hit three goals for the campaign – but this time round he’s done it within the first month. Kidderminster have started the season in style and Walker has been vital to their initial success.

Upon nominating him, Craig stated…

‘Walker joined Kidderminster this summer from Braintree, and after being on the bench to begin with in game one, he’s since started every other game. In response, he’s proven himself to the manager by scoring four goals and providing an assist – with three of those coming away from home against Southend before securing a vital equaliser against Barrow.’

• Mark (@MarkSharpley1) – Matt Rush (Boreham Wood): It’s been an outstanding start to the season for Boreham Wood, and rather unsurprisingly, it has been Matt Rush taking the majority of the plaudits. The 25-year-old has nine goals and an assist in his first five league games, including a hat-trick on the opening day of the season.

Mark was keen to pick him out, stating…

‘Nine goals already this season. Nothing more to add. Should be named ‘goal Rush’.’

• Louis (@L_M_R99) – Dan Urpens (Sutton United): Unlike the other nominees, Urpens is only one-month into his professional career and has already captured a lot of attention due to his impressive performances for high-flying Sutton United. Despite playing the majority of his minutes as a centre-back, he’s one of the divisions top providers thus far.

Upon selecting Urpens as his nominee, Louis stated…

‘Urpens has had a superb start to the season. Having signed his first professional contract in the summer, he has become one of the first names on the team sheet for Agutter. His versatility has seen him play at centre back & full-back and contributed to Sutton maintaining the best defence in the division. His long-throw has helped him secure three assists this month too.’

• Callum (@CalTalksNL) – Luke McCormick (Yeovil Town): With the recent squad overhaul at Huish Park, McCormick is one of Yeovil’s longest-serving first-team regulars and has began the current season by staying fit, utilising his EFL experience and leading by example with four goals, in which alone have earned his side four points.

Callum nominated McCormick by stating…

‘Yeovil have been active in the transfer window, but needed their key players to lead by example and that’s exactly what McCormick has done. The playmaker has four goals in his first five matches – which means he has already matched 50% of his previous tally in significantly less appearances. The Glovers have been extremely creative thus far and the playmaker has been at the epicentre of their early success.’

National League Lowdown’s Manager of the Month:

To ensure fairness, each member of the team have picked out an individual manager to put forward for voting.

• Dan (@DanTakesOnFooty) – Chris Agutter (Sutton United): Though Sutton impressed many National League fans with their transfers, it’s another thing to put that into practice on the pitch – but the club have managed to have an almost-faultless start. Though they’ll be disappointed with the Wealdstone defeat, they have already got fans talking for the right reasons.

Upon choosing Agutter as his nomination, Dan added…

‘Sutton are in second place in the table after five games and won their first four games, keeping three clean sheets along the way. The turnaround from last season has been outstanding.’

• Craig (@CPorte92) – Luke Garrard (Boreham Wood): Despite lifting the National League Cup, Boreham Wood fell heartbreakingly short at Wembley Stadium in their quest to reach the EFL and it would’ve been easy to allow for a post-season hangover to occur. Instead, the club have used it as motivation to start even stronger this time around and end August at the top of the pile.

Craig stated…

‘Garrard has created an extremely strong side at Boreham Wood and they have started very well, sitting top of the table with four wins and a draw, scoring 14 goals in the process. Garrard has also had to deal with off-field pressures this month and added media talk due to the Abdul Abdulmalik transfer saga.’

• Mark (@MarkSharpley1) – Daryl McMahon (Hornchurch): Newly-promoted Hornchurch have picked up four wins in five league matches so far, managing to overcome a Barrow side away from home, who were in the EFL last season. They’ve already defied most people’s expectations and McMahon deserves the plaudits he gets from their start.

Regarding his managerial pick, Mark said…

‘Nobody gave Hornchurch a chance, but McMahon’s side are continuing to prove people wrong. Four wins in five is an unbelievable start.’

• Louis (@L_M_R99) – Craig Mahon (AFC Fylde): In what is just the start of his second season in charge of the club, Fylde appear to have picked up exactly where they left off. The club have four wins in five, including a key home victory over Forest Green Rovers, in a game when they looked in complete control and could have had more. They don’t look like a newly-promoted side, they look as though they’ve been a standout name in the division for multiple seasons.

Louis added…

‘Mahon has done a great job in turning AFC Fylde into a competitive side in the National League, following their promotion last season. They are the league’s fourth highest scorers and have lost just once in their first five league games, courtesy of two injury-time goals against Woking. They also lost star forward Danny Ormerod but have continued to respond positively.’

• Callum (@CalTalksNL) – Billy Rowley (Yeovil Town): The Glovers have already had an eye-catching summer, adding a lot of creativity and experience into their side, which placed a lot of pressure on Billy Rowley’s side. However, one month in and they are already providing an exciting style of football, scoring goals and are one of just two sides that are yet to taste defeat.

Callum selected Rowley as his nomination, stating…

‘It’s one thing having an exciting summer, but it’s another thing to deliver on that, but so far Rowley’s managing to maintain expectations, play exciting attacking football and get results that they wouldn’t have had this time last season. He’s still inexperienced at National League level, but has risen to the challenges he’s faced and his side more than deserve to sit at the top end of the table after month one.’

Voting:

Voting for the National League Lowdown’s monthly awards is now open. You can vote as many times as you like by filling out the form below.

Supporters can vote until Wednesday 9th September at 7pm (UK time) – with our winners announced during our gameweek seven preview show and via our social media.