Johns strikes after twelve seconds to put Westfields on the road to defeat

1:25pm Thursday 1st November 2007

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Westfields 2 Oldbury United 3 ANTON Johns fired in a hat-trick - including a goal after just 12 seconds - to send Westfields crashing to their third successive Polymac Midland Alliance defeat on Saturday.

Westfields paid the price for some poor defending and becoming too embroiled in a physical battle with a determined Oldbury side who deserved to take the points in a fiery match at allpay.park.

Tempers flared throughout the afternoon with Westfields' Tom Sparey setting the tone in the sixth minute when he was fortunate to escape a booking after a horrid challenge on visiting winger Danny Yearwood.

Yearwood, himself, was very lucky to avoid punishment midway through the half after he appeared to head-butt Sparey in the chest in an off-the-ball incident directly in front of the main stand.

But the major flashpoint arose in the 68th minute when a foul on Oldbury's Gurdieep Wilkhoo sparked an ugly melee between a number of players in the centre-circle.

Westfields had barely touched the ball before Oldbury opened the scoring with the fourth-equal fastest goal scored in the history of the Midland Alliance.

Good work down the left-hand side by Nick Pugh set up the opportunity for Johns who made no mistake from about 10 yards, curling a right-foot shot past Adam Jones into the far corner.

Westfields responded strongly and drew level with their first attack in the 23rd minute when Mark Davis sent Tom Harding streaking away down the right.

Harding's pinpoint cross into the box was met by the on rushing Jamie Edwards who expertly drilled a first-time shot past Oldbury goalkeeper Dave Rimmer.

Rimmer had to be alert four minutes before the interval to gather a dangerous looking cross from Paul Allam after good link-up play between Allam and Harding.

But Westfields probably should have taken the lead three minutes into the second half after Ashley Day's cross led to a goal-mouth scramble.

Jamie Cuss' backheel was cleared off the line and then Alex Hunt missed his chance to stab the ball home before Cuss went tumbling inside the area.

The referee waved play on and Westfields' failure to take the lead proved a turning point in the match because Oldbury hit their second goal less than a minute later.

A long clearance downfield caused havoc in Westfields' defence and Johns stole in, rounded goalkeeper Jones on the edge of the box and calmly rolled the ball into an empty net.

Westfields struggled to put passes together on their excellent-looking pitch and the home side's plight worsened in the 63rd minute when Johns completed his hat-trick with the best goal of the game.

Receiving a pass from Pugh with his back to goal, Johns held off a couple of defenders to turn and hammer a rasping drive into the top right-hand corner from the edge of the box.

Westfields gave themselves a glimmer of hope in the 89th minute when Mark Hibbard coolly slid home a penalty after substitute Shaun Prince had been fouled inside the area.

The Hereford club threw players forward in stoppage time but the closest they came to salvaging a point was a long-range effort from Prince which flashed over.