A GOAL by Antoni Bojar was enough to give Westend Lions a 1-0 victory against Upperthong in the Under 16 Division IV and help move them away from the foot of the table.
Upperthong arrived at a sunny Salendine Nook High hoping to add to their total of just three points from seven games, but it was their opponents who took the spoils.
Although the home side enjoyed a greater share of possession in the opening encounters, Thong defenders Lewis Chard, Guy Pearson, Alex Richardson and Tom Parr were more than a match for the Westend attack.
The first real chance of note didn’t arrive until the 20th minute when Nick Dyson had a clear sight of goal, but Upperthong keeper Craig Westall pulled off a fine point-blank save.
Considering these were two sides struggling in the bottom reaches of the division, the entertainment level was extremely high as play swung from end to end but, despite some excellent build-up play, the end result was missing as both sides failed to capitalise on their chances.
Josh White was a constant danger, but the speedy Upperthong winger’s crosses came to nothing as central defenders Houton Pour and Peter Gee ensured that anything that entered the Westend penalty area was cleared to safety.
As the first half drew to a close, Upperthong enjoyed their best spell of the game but White’s efforts went unrewarded as, first, a terrific stop from Westend keeper Chris Chapman denied him before the same player hit a post minutes later.
The deadlock was finally broken 10 minutes into the second half when, after working an opening on the left, Azzuro Zito fired a cross to the far post where Antoni Bojar drilled home what proved to be the winning goal from eight yards.
Once again, Upperthong were denied when Chapman blocked a powerful Tom Wicks shot before Brett Hunt fired wide with just Chapman to beat.
At the other end, Westend were equally guilty of failing to make the best of their chances when a terrific move involving the industrious Dominic Carter, Dyson and Bojar ended with Paul Crossley firing over the bar.
Upperthong continued to throw everything into their search for an equaliser but, despite a series of chances, they were unable to find the net.
With five minutes remaining, Oscar Schofield had a golden opportunity to mark his debut with a goal and settle the issue in Westend’s favour, but the midfielder fired wide.
There’s little doubt that, on this performance, both sides will collect a few wins as the season progresses, but they will need some target practice if they are to turn their promise into points.
