Pagham 1 - 3 Oakwood - John O'Hara Cup

Chris Williams was the two-goal hero for Oakwood on Saturday as they grabbed a deserved victory at County Division 1 side Pagham.
The 3-1 score-line did not flatter the visitors as they outplayed their more illustrious opponents in the John O’Hara Cup.
Kieron Purkis scored a delightful third to seal the game, as Pagham played over an hour with 10 men, having had Dan Cox sent off for deliberate handball on the line following an Oakwood corner.
The penalty was the first incident of note in a game played at a high tempo, and Williams confidently converted to put his side ahead.
Oaks were vastly depleted on the day, travelling without Scott Mean, Gerald Manville and Scott Bidwell amongst others, as well as manager John Mist unavailable due to work.
The situation wasn’t helped by Andre Elkana hobbling off after 20 minutes, but Mark Holmes stepped in ably for his first appearance of the season.
Nathan Pullen, Tom Tolfrey, Williams and Purkis all had chances that were well saved by the Pagham ‘keeper, and centre half Dan Attwater came close with a shot from the edge of the box.
But Oakwood were cut open when keeper James Shaw’s mishit clearance fell to the Pagham right back, who was allowed to travel a full 50 yards unopposed with the ball, and when his initial effort fell to Scott Towers, his shot unfortunately nicked off the excellent Attwater and past Shaw to level the scores.
With the game evening out in the second half, both teams began to look for openings. Pagham struggled to be dangerous, with the back four of Holmes, Attwater, Mike Gardner (who played on the right wing last week), and Ant Rodgers repelling everything.
Sub Mark Bevan’s perfect cross should have been converted by the charging Attwater, but Oakwood gained the lead soon after with Williams’ terrific effort.
The striker brought down Tom Tolfrey’s long pass, then rounded the last defender and the sprawling ‘keeper before slotting home from a tight angle, much to the delight of the visitors.
Pagham pressed but never really looked like scoring, and Kieron Purkis finished the game with 10 minutes remaining, driving at the heart of the defence as he had done all game, before opening his body up on the edge of the box and guiding the ball past the static ‘keeper.
Manager John Mist was delighted with the result in his absence. “The players showed great maturity to go down there and get a good result, so the credit must go to them. I have to say a massive thanks to Mark Lay and Shaun Donnelly who did really well covering for me, and for keeping in constant contact with me during the game.”
Oakwood play Seaford Town at home in the league cup on Saturday, before a return to league action against Little Common on Tuesday night.