Westfield 1 v 4 Bexhill United

Wednesday 19th August 2020, kick-off 18.23
Westfield Invitational Cup
Parish Field, Westfield
Admission and Programme: None
Attendance: 50 (approx)

Up to yesterday, this game was out of bounds to spectators, as the absurd ruling of all games involving clubs from Step 7 and above having to be played behind closed doors remained in force, with no imminent end in sight. But then, common sense finally prevailed, surely thanks in no small part to an impressive #letfansin social media campaign, as the DCMS clarified that Step 7 clubs could welcome spectators to their friendly matches after all, with immediate effect.

The Parish Field is located just to the north of the village of Westfield, and immediately adjacent to the busy A28 road a few miles north of Hastings. The ground hosted senior football for 16 seasons when the club played in the Sussex County League Division Two, but were relegated in 2015 solely due to the Parish Field not meeting ground grading regulations. A key element of that was a lack of floodlights, and they almost certainly never will be permitted at the Parish Field. Inside the main entrance, there is room to park next to the pitch, and railing is present along both lengths, with some hard standing in sections. A group of cabins painted in green are assembled along one length, with a bar area, snack bar and changing rooms inside, and overhang provides a covered area pitchside. There is a very narrow path behind one of the goals to reach the far length, whilst the remaining end is inaccessible.

Westfield are currently members of the Step 7 Mid Sussex League Premier Division, and were in seventh place in the 13 club division when last season was abandoned, whereas Bexhill United play a Step 6, in the Southern Combination League Division One, and were in fifth place when the season was abandoned. This evening match would decide who would win the Westfield Invitational Cup, a four team tournament supposed to be completed on two Saturdays, but the original attempt at playing this game last Saturday sadly had to be abandoned after just ten minutes due to a serious injury to Bexhill's Drew Greenall, which turned out to be a double leg break. In the semi-finals, Bexhill won 3-0 against Hastings United Under 23, whilst Westfield beat Battle Town, of the East Sussex League Premier Division, 4-0.

On a cool, drizzly and murky evening, this game, which kicked off 7 minutes earlier than advertised, saw Bexhill always in the ascendancy and create most of the chances, although Westfield held their own in the first half. Bexhill opened the scoring on the half hour mark, when the ball was crossed from the right and headed in off the underside of the bar by Sammy Bunn. Bexhill scored a second on 42 minutes, when Jack MacLean found himself one on one with the keeper, and he rifled the ball into the bottom left corner.

The second half continued in a similar fashion to the first, with Westfield competing well without being able to create much going forward, but they got the help they needed to get on the scoresheet on 63 minutes, when a defensive mix up resulted in the ball brushing the keeper's boot and trickling agonisingly into the empty net. Westfield then had their best spell of the game, but Bexhill scored their third on 76 minutes, a one-two ended resulted in MacLean with the ball in plenty of space in the left side of the area to drill it home across the keeper. And on 79 minutes, they scored their fourth when a free kick was curled low into the box and was tapped home at the far post by Nathan Lopez.