FOOTBALL: County League round-up

Scott Murfin set up Phil Turner's opener on 13 minutes in slightly fortuitous circumstances when his attempted pass hit a defender's back and that allowed Turner an empty net to tap into.

Murfin and George Gaskin then both hit the bar in the same move, before Selsey also struck the woodwork.

Murfin doubled Wick's lead three minutes before half-time but Rob Wimble pulled a goal back early in the second half.

Wick keeper Alex Bryant starred with a couple of excellent saves before Dan Swain, Gaskin and Ben Torode all had chances to extend Wick's lead.

Wick enjoyed an excellent 4-2 win at Crowborough on Saturday in Division 1, and their boss Vic Short said: "We deserved to win and, although we took our foot off the gas in the second half, it was a good win. We're going to take each match at a time and see where it gets us."

Joe Millroy put Crows ahead in the opening minute, but Wick equalised after Turner slid home Torode's cross in the 20th minute. Murfin and Gaskin both had efforts saved before Turner made it 2-1 from Murfin's through ball.

Gaskin's brilliant solo effort then extended the lead on the stroke of half-time. Paul Wilkins' header made the score 3-2 five minutes into the second half but Murfin sealed Wick's win 17 minutes from time.

Wick have signed midfielder Simon Clayton from Rustington.

WICK v Selsey: Bryant; Torode, Sharman, Biggs, Sutcliffe; Turner, Pearce, Swain, Barnard; Gaskin, Murfin. Subs: Boston (Gaskin 60), Beaney (Swain 70), Lawson (Murfin 85).

v Crowborough: Bryant; Torode, Sharman, Biggs, Sutcliffe; Turner, Pearce, Swain, Barnard; Gaskin, Murfin. Subs: Boston (Gaskin 60), Beaney (Sutcliffe 70), Sayer (Swain 85).

Rustington exited the Sussex Senior Cup with a 3-0 defeat at division-higher Whitehawk on Tuesday.

Blues manager Pete Matthews said: "To be fair, we gave a good account of ourselves, and they got a late penalty and 3-0 made it look a bit more comfortable for them than it was."

Blues' Steve Kirkham had the first clear-cut chance of the match before Mark Whiteman turned the defence and netted Hawks' first on 25 minutes.

Wes Tate doubled their lead just after the break, before a period of pressure saw Rustington's Sean Duffy, Lee Gibbs and Kirkham all go close.

Whitehawk sealed the win late on as keeper Andy McCarthy, who has returned to Blues from Arundel, brought down a player in the box, conceded a penalty and was sent off before Tate netted the spot-kick.

With no keeper available, Rustington had striker Craig Cox in goal for their 3-1 Division 2 win at Wealden on Saturday. Matthews said: "We retained the ball well and deserved to win. It was a good, tough, battling performance and we dug in when we needed to. Craig played very well in goal and made one or two excellent saves."

Blues went ahead after 10 minutes when Kirkham netted from Gibbs' pass.

Kirkham made it 2-0 on the half-hour after Duffy's effort was saved.

Wealden pulled a goal back two minutes before half-time, but a Wealden own goal 10 minutes after the break made the points safe. Gibbs and Kirkham went close to further goals for Blues.

Rustington have signed defender Adam Goff from Wick.

RUSTINGTON v Whitehawk: McCarthy; Harris, Bashford, Butt, Green; Gibbs, Bennett, C.Matthews, J.Mathews; Churchill, Kirkham. Subs: Duffy (J.Matthews 70), Stock (Churchill 75), Cox (Gibbs 80).

v Wealden: Cox; Green, Bashford, Neal, Harris; Gibbs, C.Matthews, Cumber, J.Matthews, Duffy; Kirkham. Subs: Churchill (Cumber 40), James (C.Matthews 70), Boxall (Kirkham 80), Stock, Gibbon.

Arundel recovered from a 2-0 half-time deficit to claim a point in their Division 1 match at Hassocks.

Josh Biggs hit the bar and Lewis Hamilton fired wide before Dan Towers reduced the deficit from Steve Sneller's cross in the 70th minute.

Biggs then equalised five minutes later when he headed home Hamilton's cross, before Hassocks ended the game with 10 men after Spencer Slaughter received his second yellow card.

Mullets manager Richard Towers said: "A draw was fair, and I think it's a good result considering the team we had out. We should have had a penalty when Joe Leggatt was brought down, but they had the first half and we had the second, so in that sense a draw was a fair result."

ARUNDEL: O'Connor; Walker, Sneller, Carragher, Hall; Leggatt, Towers, Grove, Axell; Biggs, Hamilton. Subs: Bassil (Leggatt 75), Dormer (Hamilton 82), Matt Huckett.

Littlehampton were beaten 2-1 at Loxwood in Division 2, but player-manager Gary Young was pleased with his side's performance.

He said: "We played good football, deserved to win and our missed chances cost us. We want to finish as high as we can and it's an encouraging sign."

In the first half, at 1-1, Young hit the bar with a penalty and Matt Ward also saw an effort hit the woodwork, while Jerry Manning had an effort saved and Matt Russell headed an opening wide.

Marcus Robertshaw cancelled out Loxwood's opener when he converted Billy Rayner's pass in the 30th minute, but Loxwood got a 55th-minute winner.

LITTLEHAMPTON: Stoner; Ward, Crawford, McKay, Young; Robertshaw, Rayner, White, Manning; Peacock, Russell. Subs: Hudson, Burgess (Rayner, Peacock 70), Cavalero (Manning 75), Hand, Stone.

East Preston missed several chances in their 0-0 draw with Westfield.

Jay Huet failed to convert from six yards in the opening minute, Lee Farrell missed two one-on-ones, Matt Windsor had a header saved from six yards, Ian Saunders' 18-yarder was just off target and Nathan Da Costa shot wide from six yards after rounding the keeper.

EP manager Trevor Waller said: "We didn't play that well but should have won."

EP reached the final of the 2008-09 Brighton Charity Cup final last Wednesday with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Seaford after a 1-1 draw.

Seaford took the lead just before half-time but Kevin Budge levelled early in the second period. That was the way things stayed through extra-time and the match went to penalties.

Neil Riley, Chris Darwin and Ian Saunders all scored for EP before Jay Huet's effort was saved, which meant Seaford had an opportunity to win the tie. Their spot-kick went wide, though, and Terry Dodd made it 4-4.

Seaford again hit their shot wide and Adam Holman netted to send EP into the final, where they will meet Shoreham.

EAST PRESTON v Westfield: Kason; Da Costa, Saunders, Windsor, Holman, Darwin; Riley, Campbell, Budge; Huet, Farrell. Subs: Rowland (Darwin 70), Simmonds, Meaney (Budge, Huet 80), Bernard.

v Seaford: Kason; Da Costa, Saunders, Hammond, Holman; Nicholson, Campbell, Paine, Budge; Dodd, Huet. Subs: Riley (Budge 70), Darwin (Paine 90), Windsor (Hammond 95), Bird.

Aaron Meehan got an 81st-minute winner for Clymping in their 2-1 win at Oakwood. Miquel Quirosa played in Meehan, who netted after Clymping had missed several chances throughout the game.

Clymping had taken the lead in the first minute when Richy Moss and Meehan combined for Richard Ghent to tap home. Dan Barnard, Moss, Tony Castro and Meehan all had opportunities to double the lead before Oakwood levelled four minutes before half-time.

Moss missed a one-on-one and Meehan drilled an effort just wide before Meehan's winner, while Moss, Quirosa and Barnard all then had chances to get a third. Clymping boss Dominic Di Paola said: "It was a very good result and we played pretty well."

CLYMPING: Oakley; Stokes, Young, S.Di Paola, D.Di Paola; Meehan, Castro, Brown, Moss; Ghent, Barnard. Subs: Quirosa (Stokes 70), Weston (Ghent 80).

Wick and East Preston are both in FA Cup action this weekend. EP travel to Zamaretoo League Gosport Borough on Saturday, and Wick are at Ryman League Horsham YMCA on Sunday (3pm). Both side's replay dates would be on Tuesday.

Littlehampton Ladies got their first points of the season with a 6-1 win over Wandgas in the London & South East League. Sam Mee, Sami Amgar, Wendy Grant, Sara Hinton, Holly Allen and Francesa Smith got Littlehampton's goals.

They had lost their opening game 3-2 at Wingate, when Mee and Grant scored, and boss Jamie Bourne said: "The Wandgas result was a very good win and we moved on from last week's defeat."

Nicola Harrison scored for Littlehampton Reserves in their friendly 1-1 draw with Chichester.

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