Football- Wooffers lose at home in closely contested game

WOFFERTON'S clash with their great rivals Wellington was always going to be a closely-contested affair with the teams sharing top spot in the Hereford Times Herefordshire Premier League, with the visitors claimingthe edge on goal difference.

Wellington used the strong wind at their backs effectively to put their hosts under early pressure. However it was by no means one-way traffic with Woofferton always dangerous on the break.

The visitors had several half-chances but generally failed to trouble home goalkeeper Dave Cooper, the closest being a fierce drive from Steve Minton which rebounded from an upright, who made it a double miss when he blasted the second attempt over the bar.

After the interval it was Woofferton's turn to use the elements and they immediately pinned Wellington in their own half but were met by a well-organised visiting defence who restricted them to long range shooting.

However, much as Woofferton had looked dangerous on the break in the first half, the visitors were always prepared to break swiftly.

From such a break Wellington forced a corner and, when the home defence failed to clear their lines, Cory Hyde picked up the ball just outside the box to score the decisive goal.

Although he did not strike the ball cleanly it crept past Cooper and, in spite of a late lunge by a defender to clear the ball, the referee adjudged that the ball had crossed the line.

Woofferton pushed more men forward to try to salvage something from the game and were unlucky when Dale Withers saw his shot rebound to safety with the Wellington goalkeeper well beaten.