Little Comnon beaten by Crawley Down Gatwick - Westfield find form in county cup

Despite the good surface, the strong winds and rain made conditions less than perfect for football. In what was a relatively even opening quarter it was Common keeper Charlie Holmwood, deputizing for the injured Matt Cruttwell, who was called into action to make the first save of the match, stopping well with his feet.

Down saw a far post headed fall the wrong side of the post before the best two chances of the first half fell to Common. First Harry Saville was played in by JJ Walker but his low effort was saved by the home keeper before Hole saw his first time effort clawed away by the keeper following good a good delivery from Adam Smith. Holmwood once again made a good save with his feet before Hole had an effort cleared off the line having failed to connect properly with the ball. The final chance of the half fell to the home side but a free header cleared the crossbar.

With the wind picking up, Common found the early stages of the second half difficult and had to contend with a series of corners from the home side as they looked to make their dominance count. Oli Leslie saw a header bounce off the post and into the arms of Holmwood before another effort was cleared to safety after hitting the same post.

The deadlock was broken with 20 minutes remaining when Common lost possession and a quick counter released Leslie who slotted the ball past Holmwood. The hosts should have put the result beyond doubt in the dying minutes but Holmwood saved well when the Down forward found himself through on goal.

Common: Holmwood, Harris, Smith, Bunn, Parsons, Eldridge, Saville (Richardson), Walker, Hole (Crone), Nwajagu, Ellis (Brown).

Westfield 5 Peacehaven Res 1 - Sussex Intermediate Cup

Westfield went into their Sussex Intermediate Cup game with Peacehaven Reserves hoping for a change in fortune following their recent league form.

On a day that was better suited for kite flying than football, Westfield made the most of having the wind behind them first half.

Shots rained down on Peacehaven’s goal early on and it was Westfield top scorer Josh Pickering who opened the scoring. A corner from the left was not cleared and Pickering plucked it out the sky before burying his shot into the bottom corner.

Westfield continued to press and probably should have been four up after half an hour. Durrant, Landais and a Pethig all wasted good chances. Ben Ferguson however did make it two for Westfield on the stroke of half-time, a lovely ball from Landais left Ferguson a simple tap in.

The second half kicking into a strong breeze was more of a challenge for Westfield and Peacehaven pegged the Westies back. A poor clearance fell to the Peacehaven forward who duly obliged with a fine finish.

This woke Westfield up and they started playing some neat football.

More great play down the right resulted in Josh Pickering picking up his brace. George Landias’s tricky free kick was then tapped in by Cameron Woodley to make it four. The icing on the cake was a fifteen pass move that led to Ryan Moir laying in on a plate for George Landais to tap home.

Westfield now face a season defining month. They play Sedlescombe Rangers twice in the league, as well as Southwater and Ringmer in two cup competitions. Westfield Manager Mark Stapley will be hoping his team go into 2022 in a healthy league position and on a couple of exciting cup runs.

Westfield: Marshall, May, Durrant, Dicken, Davies (Moir), Maclean (Woodley), Ferguson, Farrance, Landais, Pethig (Gordon),Pickering.