FOOTBALL: County League Weekly round-up

WICK Football Club's star striker Scott Murfin has joined Zamaretto League Gosport Borough, where former Wick joint boss, Mick Catlin, is assistant manager.

Murfin, who netted 15 goals for Wick this season, and had scored 61 in just over two seasons at the club, leaves with Wick second in County League Division 1.

Speaking after Wick's 2-2 draw with unbeaten Lingfield on Saturday, boss Vic Short said: "Scott wants to step up and I'm not going to stand in anyone's way who wants to do that. He'll always be welcome back here if things don't work out at Gosport."

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Murfin, who will still be dual-signed with Wick, would have missed Saturday's game with a hamstring injury, anyway, but Wick still made the perfect start.

New strike-force, George Gaskin and Steve Boston combined, with Gaskin finding Boston, who coolly lobbed Lingfield keeper Andy Woodward from 20 yards.

Lingfield struck back, though. Andy Dalehouse rolled a left-footed shot past Wick keeper Alex Bryant on 28 minutes, before Joel Greaves acrobatically volleyed the visitors ahead four minutes later.

After Boston blazed a golden equalising chance over early in the second period, Wick grabbed a point with nine minutes left when Phil Turner headed home Gaskin's cross at the back post.

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Short said: "We had to work hard to get back into it and I thought it was a good game. We try to play attacking football and I don't think you'll see too many 0-0s here."

WICK: Bryant; Barnard, N.Murfin, Sutcliffe, Torode; Turner, Pearce, Clayton, Swain; Boston, Gaskin. Subs: Lawson (Boston 88), Huggett (Gaskin 90), Biggs, Sharman, McCarthy.

A slick wet pitch produced a flurry of goals on Friday night as Littlehampton Football Club beat local rivals Rustington 4-3 in the Division 2 Cup second round.

It was 3-3 at half-time and Golds got the winner with a minute left when substitute Idriz Adedoja, who had missed an identical opportunity seconds earlier, headed home to the delight of Littlehampton joint manager Gary Young.

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He said: "I think we deserved it most overall. We literally gave them three goals and should have been well out of sight by half-time but, obviously, I'm pleased just to get the win."

It had taken the visitors just 40 seconds to take the lead. Steve Kirkham beat the offside trap from Ryan Morten's chipped ball forward and neatly shot under Golds keeper Craig Stoner.

The home side did not appear affected by the early set-back and soon settled on the ball. They had a penalty appeal turned down on eight minutes when Matt Russell went down, but levelled two minutes later.

Russell headed home Louie Murray's high whipped in corner over Rustington keeper Sean Yeo.

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Golds took the lead on 25 minutes after some indecisive defending from Rustington on the edge of their area. Littlehampton striker Barney Boutwood punished this and fired home from 10 yards.

Their lead was short-lived, however. Phil Churchill's determined run down the left flank and perfect cutback was slotted in to the far corner by James Butt just after the half-hour.

Another goal and more slack defending came along a minute later when Golds' Russell headed into an empty net after Yeo could not claim from a corner.

It looked as though Golds would take a 3-2 lead into half-time but Blues levelled in added time. Kirkham was brought down in the penalty area and James Bennett scored from the spot.

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The second half was a more low-key affair and played at a slower pace after both sides' first-half excursions.

Blues twice hit the woodwork through Bennett and Kirkham, while debutant Adedoja twice went close before he headed Golds' late winner.

LITTLEHAMPTON: Stoner; Sayers, Hazell, Young, McKay; White, Russell, Ward, Hudson; Boutwood, Murray. Subs: Adedoja (White 62), Simmonds (Boutwood 82), Pidgeon, Gilliard, Campbell.

RUSTINGTON: Yeo; Morten, Neal, Gough, Green; Butt, Matthews, Bennett, Gibbs; Churchill, S.Kirkham. Subs: Harris (Matthews 82), Adams (S.Kirkham 87), Curtis, Gibbons, C.Kirkham.

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Arundel assistant manager Simon Butler was left disappointed by the soft goals his team conceded in their 3-1 defeat at Eastbourne United in Division 1.

Butler said: "It wasn't a 3-1 game but it was self-inflicted. The goals we conceded were sloppy but we lost concentration at crucial moments.

"I thought we deserved a draw. They rode their luck at times but we were poor at the back."

Howard Neighbour fired over and saw another effort go wide before a Stephen Dallaway double left Mullets 2-0 down by the half-hour mark.

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Scott Tipper reduced the deficit four minutes before half-time after excellent build-up play by Lewis Hamilton and Russell Hardwell.

Tipper had another effort saved as Mullets pushed for an equaliser, before Ben Billings restored United's two-goal cushion on 60 minutes.

ARUNDEL: O'Connor; Sneller, Walker, Pickford, R.Biggs; Hardwell, J.Biggs, Grove, Hamilton; Tipper, Neighbour. Subs: Axell, Hall (J.Biggs, Sneller 68), Duncan.

Clymping manager Dominic Di Paola is relishing the fact his squad is virtually back to full fitness as things start to fall into place.

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Clymping knocked Westfield out of the Division 2 Cup with a 2-1 win at Eastbourne Bor-ough's Priory Lane ground, to record their second consecutive victory, thanks to goals from Joe Shelley and Paul Brown.

Di Paola said: "We are almost back to full strength, so there are no excuses now as we have proved we are capable. There is competition which keeps everyone on their toes. It would be nice to have a little run in this competition now."

Clymping went ahead after a well-worked move down the right saw Joe Stokes' cross headed home by Shelley after 38 minutes.

Westfield got back on level terms on 50 minutes but Brown regained Clymping's lead on 64 minutes when he smashed home a fine effort into the top left corner.

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Clymping keeper Michael Oakley made an excellent save before Clymping substitute Jan Miller missed a late chance to seal his side's win.

CLYMPING: Oakley; Stokes, Raynsford, S.Di Paola, C.Moss; Ghent, Brown, Shelley, Castro; Hand, Barnard. Subs: R.Moss (Barnard 60), Rayner (Brown 70), Miller (Hand 80).

Littlehampton Ladies are through to the FA Women's Cup third-qualifying round after a 3-2 extra-time win over Maidenhead United. Sam Mee netted for Littlehampton with a superb 20-yard free kick as it finished 1-1 after normal time.

Mee, with a 45-yarder, and Wendy Grant hit Littlehampton's goals in extra-time.

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