Westfield held to exciting draw

Westfield have claimed some splendid victories over the Crawley side in recent years, most notably in a SCFA Division Two Cup semi-final two seasons ago, whilst Oakwood inflicted a double over them last season, including a 5-0 drubbing at the Parish Field.

Perhaps, therefore, it wasn't too much of a surprise that the first of two meetings between the sides in the space of three weeks should end all square.

"Overall it was probably about the right result," said manager Steve Johnson. "On league positions (Oakwood lie 14th while Westfield are fifth) it was two points dropped but on the actual game it was one gained. It was a good game, both sides played some good football but the most disappointing thing was that we didn't manage to keep hold of the lead."

And especially so because they only took the lead relatively late in the game. It wasn't until the 78th minute that Dominic Clarke, returning after missing the 1-0 win at Sidlesham seven days previously with a knee injury, side-footed home Chris Smith's corner from inside the six yard box as Oakwood, playing just their third away league fixture, seemed to get caught out by the variation on the general theme of short corners.

But it was wiped out just six minutes later when Oaks broke down their right hand side and a dangerous low ball across the face of goal was directed into the net by Gardner from close range.

Over and above the two goals, both sides managed to engineer their fair share of chances. Ten-goal topscorer Clarke had the best opportunity of the opening half but struck his volley at rather than wide of the goalkeeper whilst, at the other end, Peter Newstead kept the scoreline level on several occasions.