Broadbridge Heath poised to strike after Westfield stalemate

Saturday’s four hour round trip saw them grind out a goalless draw against a team more suited to long ball tactics on a pitch where playing football on the ground proved an impossible task.

The home side started well and had Heath on the back foot mainly due to the fact that so many balls were hoofed into the Heath penalty area from distance, keeping goalkeeper James Fisher busy with catching practice.

The host’s best chance of the half came early on when their centre-midfield player broke through the middle but shot straight at Fisher when a yard either side could have given his team the lead.

At the other end Rob Godfrey shot over the crossbar midway through the half and Ollie Moore should have given Heath the lead on 30 minutes when put through by Merv Bhujun, but the Westfield keeper was out quickly to narrow the angle and the resulting shot went inches wide of the post.

Just before the break Godfrey slipped a pass through to Bhujun but the Heath striker took too long to get his shot away and the Westfield keeper again came to his team’s rescue.

There was very little to shout about in the second period as the light worsened, passes continued to go astray on the bobbly pitch and the general level of entertainment value for the supporters was quite low.

Westfield could have snatched a win in the final minutes but Fisher was quick to clear the danger and the game ended goalless.

On a positive side, Heath improved on the result from last season when they lost 2-1 at Westfield, they kept a clean sheet and still have the best defensive record in the division.

It was also captain Andy Howard’s first full game as centre-half since October 26 and striker Jake Holmes made a welcome return from injury as a 75th minute substitute having missed the last four matches.

Heath: Fisher, Etherington, Alfieri, Flack, Howard, Moore (McDermott 60), Waddingham, Godfrey (Chester 75), Andrade (Holmes 75), Sultan, Bhujun.