Millwey Rise went down 1-0 on their visit to Halwill for a Macron League Division Five encounter, writes Dick Sturch.

The home side started much the brighter of the two teams, creating an opening straight from the kick-off that resulted in an early corner which was cleared by Millwey’s defence.

Halwill continued their early pressure and, after being awarded a free-kick in a dangerous area, the well-delivered ball was met with a very powerful header back across the goal, which gave Jack Bennett no chance as it flashed into the net.

Millwey tried to hit back straight away with efforts from Nathan Womersley and Shane Featherstone, but neither could find the net after working very hard to create the chances.

As the half progressed both teams strove for goals, but unfortunately Millwey came up short on fluency and were second best in most contests.

After the break, ‘Rise’ started with greater tempo, playing with more cohesion and looked as though they would get themselves back into the game. However, and most unfortunately, despite the increased pressure they were unable to create any real clear-cut opportunities to secure an equaliser.

Sam Burke, after venting his frustration at a very poor referee, was sin-binned for his outburst. During this time Womersley picked up a knock in a hard challenge and was forced to go, to be replaced by Haydn Lewis.

Halwill played out the remainder of the game well to clinch three valuable points. Millwey’s strikers Womersley and Featherstone worked tirelessly, but were living off ‘scraps’ bereft of the quality service which was needed to open up the Halwill defence.