Spoils shared in fourth meeting with Holyport

United’s last home game of the season ended all square in what was the fourth meeting between the two teams this season excluding the abandoned December 2018 away league fixture.

The opening five minutes saw both teams have goal scoring opportunities with the visitors’ keeper Jake Quelch using his feet to deflect Freddie Barron’s shot for a corner while Harrison Cliff headed over the home cross bar while unmarked.

United survived a scare when a defensive mix up saw a cross narrowly bounce in front of goal and out of play before Fabian Driffill opened the scoring in the fourteenth minute with a strike from twenty five yards.

Ben Clark fired over while a Max Laschok cross narrowly evaded the oncoming Chase Jewell.

Tom Bryant denied Driffill his second when diving to concede a corner after twenty six minutes which was the first of a number of successive corners in quick time as Woodley struggling to clear the ball. Adam Barnard cleared Driffill’s shot of the goal line in the thirty fourth minute after the forward had rounded Bryant.

Woodley’s offence was limited with Pablo Fernandez firing wide and Clark seeing a shot cleared for a corner and were thankful to Bryant who having parried Chris Defanco’s free kick in stoppage time denied Driffill with the follow up as the match entered first half stoppage time.

The second half saw United start in positive manner with Barron dangerous on the right flank and Harry Hawkins working hard in midfield and being positive with his forward passing. It was fitting that Barron levelled the score on fifty nine minutes when good play by Laschok found Fernandez who in turn put Barron through to evade a challenge and shoot pass Quelch.

This was followed by Fernandez firing a free kick straight at Quelch and Laschok failing to score when facing Quelch who was outside his penalty area.

The dangerous Driffill was again denied by Bryant following a long free kick taken by Quelch while Hawkins set up Jon Malone who fired wide midway through the second half.

Harrison Moore was introduced in the sixty ninth minute and his first task was to clear the ball of the United goal line following a goal mouth scramble after a Holyport free kick.

Woodley was enjoying the better of the second half but were unable to score a second despite Richard Thomas heading a corner kick wide and Barron putting over the bar from a Fernandez free kick with ten minutes remaining.

Bryant, Malone, Jewell, Hawkins, R Thomas, Barnard, Barron, Fernandez, Clark, Laschok, Wood (H Moore) Unused sub: Gilbert