Pre-season Friendly
Parish Field, Westfield
Admission and Programme: None
Attendance: 30 (approximate)
For my midweek action this week, I decided to pay a visit to the Parish Field, always a pleasant place to watch a game in warm evening sunshine, and with opportunities probably being very thin on the ground to visit once the season is underway.
There are two steps between the two clubs. Westfield play in the Mid Sussex League Premier Division, and have been in mid-table during each of the last two disrupted seasons, as have Little Common, in the Southern Combination League Premier Division. Both clubs have high hopes for the future, however, in terms of their home grounds. Westfield were forced into relegation to Step 7 football in 2015 as the Parish Field was deemed no longer suitable to host Step 6 football, however recently their plans to construct a new ground across the road were finally approved, after many years in the pipeline. Similarly, Little Common's traditional home in Peartree Lane no longer met minimum requirements to host senior football, and so to avoid a similar fate to Westfield, they have been sharing Eastbourne United's home ground The Oval, almost ten miles away from the village. However, plans to enclose the pitch at the Recreation Ground, and add some new stands, were finally approved in autumn 2020, and so a return of the club's first team fixtures back to the village should be not too far in the future.
On a gloriously warm and sunny evening, Little Common had most of the play and possession during the first half, but Westfield defended well and even managed to get forward and threaten occasionally. And after Little Common created some decent chances in the opening minutes, Westfield saw a shot from outside the area come back off the crossbar. Little Common finally did find a way through on 39 minutes following a cross in from the right and a looping header sent the ball high over the keeper and into the net. And with the last action of the half, Little Common were awarded a penalty for a foul tackle, which was dispatched low into the right side of the net.
The second half was where it all went wrong for Westfield, as they tired and at times Little Common found ways through the beleaguered Westfield defence with ease.The visitors scored their third on 56 minutes with a fine shot from just outside the area, bent with the outside of the boot around the keeper and inside the far corner, and their fourth followed two minutes later when a corner was headed home at the far post. On 66 minutes, Little Common were awarded their second penalty for another foul tackle, struck into the left side of the goal despite the keeper going the right way this time. Within a couple of minutes an emphatic volley from a corner made it 0-6, and a minute later, it was seven after the ball was played towards the edge of the area, the keeper came out but couldn't get there and the ball was eventually worked towards the centre of the penalty area, and the forward struck the ball home on the turn. On 71 minutes, a drilled shot forced an excellent reflex parry over the bar, but on 79 minutes, a Little Common player waltzed from the half way line through the defence for a one on one, which ended with a cool finish low inside the left hand post. On 84 minutes, Little Common had a goalbound shot blocked by a defender, but within a minute, Little Common scored their ninth with a drilled shot from outside the area, which unfortunately squirmed through the keeper's legs. And on 86 minutes, Little Common reached double figures when the Little Common player took a few touches in plenty of space, before shooting the ball emphatically into the net. That proved the final action of the game with the referee blowing the final whistle four minutes early, perhaps taking pity on the home side.
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