Westies beaten and bruised

The Westies lost 4-1 away to third-placed AFC Uckfield Town in Macron Store Sussex County Football League Division Two and two players required trips to hospital.

Assistant manager Mark Drinkwater, who led the side in the absence of boss Jethro Warren, said: “We felt we could’ve got something out of the game so it was a disappointing end to the season really. We ended the season with a bit of a whimper.”

Westfield gave themselves the proverbial mountain to climb by conceding twice from set-pieces in the first eight minutes. Former Westfield player Lewis Parsons and Danny Andrews made no mistake with free headers to put Uckfield 2-0 up and the hosts could have been three or four goals ahead in the opening 20 minutes.

Things went from bad to worse for Westfield when Carl Morris was stretchered off having badly twisted his ankle on landing after going up for a header. A subsequent trip to hospital revealed a suspected chipped bone in his tibia or fibula and a cracked ankle bone, although the swelling was such that a precise diagnosis couldn’t be made.

Morris was replaced by George Stonham and the 17-year-old had an excellent game. Westfield came back into it during the remainder of the half and created a couple of half chances, as well as having a penalty appeal turned down.

There was more bad injury news, though, as Conner Burton went over in a tackle and the impact of his head hitting the ground caused him to develop blurred vision. The midfielder went off at half time and headed to hospital where it was revealed he had concussion.

Westfield started the second period reasonably well, though, and pulled one back shortly after the hour mark. Matt Dadswell got in behind the Uckfield defence and was brought down for a penalty which Curtis Coombes tucked away.

Having felt they were on top, Westfield were again the architects of their own downfall by conceding a third headed goal five minutes or so later. Kevin Everest reacted quicker than his marker to restore Uckfield’s two-goal cushion.

The game went into a lull after that until Uckfield completed the scoring five minutes from time. With Westfield pushing on, Uckfield broke away and the lightning quick Elliott Wood took the ball round goalkeeper Connor Holland before slotting home.

Westfield: Holland; Paine, Archer (Willis), Henham, Bell; Morris (Stonham), Brand; Coombes, Williams, Burton (Whiteman); Dadswell.