Recap

Westfields 1 – Davis

Malvern Town 1 – Clark

LOCAL DERBY ENDS IN A DRAW

Westfields kicked off the new Hellenic League season with a match with local rivals Malvern Town and served up an exciting end-to-end 1-1 draw in front of 308 spectators on a sun-kissed allpay.park last night.

Both sides played fast attacking soccer and it was Westfields who caused the first scare when Harrison Summers was brought down in the box with a heavy tackle but the referee waved the Westfields appeals aside for a penalty.

Malvern then defended stoutly and 2 shots were cleared off the line before Malvern snatched the lead with a breakaway in the 18^th minute when Harry Clark swept down the left-hand flank, chased a long ball and cut inside to beat Ian Havard with a low shot into the far corner of the net to give the visitors the lead.

Westfields hit back but were thwarted in the latter stages of the first half when Ian Havard in the Westfields goal when clearing a through ball was adjudged to have brought down Matt Turner, the Malvern striker, and was given a red card.

However, this did not disrupt the Westfields side too much but Phil Glover, the Westfields manager, was forced to take off teenage striker Harrison Summers and replace Havard with substitute goalkeeper Matt Apperley.

After the break the excitement continued with both sides looking for another goal but it was Westfields who drew level within 5 minutes of the restart when Man of the Moment Joe Davies pounced on a through ball from Richard Greaves to beat Keiron Blackburn with a rasping shot to put the 2 sides level.

This set up an exciting second half with the game sweeping from end-to-end and it was Malvern who almost snatched the next goal when Dave Reynolds beat Matt Apperley but his shot struck the post.

Westfields then defended superbly with only 10 men and Paul Hurrell and Joe Davies were outstanding at the heart of the defence.

Both sides introduced substitutes in an effort to get the winning goal and it was Westfields who almost clinched it when Blackburn again had to save well from a Paul Hurrell shot and then Richard Greaves fired narrowly over the bar as 10-men Westfields finished strongly.

The game certainly served up an impressive start to the new season in the Hellenic Premier Division and Malvern certainly look as though they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with whilst Westfields themselves with a host of newcomers gave a very creditable performance, particularly with ten men.

Westfields’ next game is at home on Saturday in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round when they meet Heather St John’s from Leicestershire in what should be another exciting game.

Westfields’ next Hellenic League game is away at Cribbs on Tuesday when they make their first ever trip to the Bristol club in an Hellenic Premier Division game, kick-off 7.45pm.