Common provide only highlight

Little Common provided the only moment of cheer as Rye United, Sidley United and Westfield were all beaten on New Year’s Eve.

Common won 5-0 at home to Oakwood in Division Two after opening up a four-goal lead in the first dozen minutes with Russell Eldridge scoring virtually straight from the kick-off.

Player-manager Eldridge ended up with two, and there was one each for Dominic Cruttenden, Jamie Crone and Linton Rogers, who was making his Common debut after signing from Bexhill United.

Rye suffered their first away defeat of the season in Division One when they went down 2-1 against Hassocks despite dominating the game.

The league leaders went behind after just 34 seconds and a freak goal from 40 yards put them two-down at half time before Duncan McArthur pulled one back with a second half free kick.

Sidley also got off to a nightmare start as they went down 5-1 at Redhill, conceding twice in the first three minutes. Lewis Hole netted the consolation in a one-sided Division One fixture.

Westfield lost 2-0 at home to in-form Eastbourne United AFC in Division Two. Both goals came in the final 20 minutes and Westfield striker David Pugh had a penalty saved in between them.

Full reports on all four matches will appear in Friday’s Observers.