Westfields 2 Biddulph Victoria 3.

A GOAL from Paul Macari, the son of former Manchester United and Celtic star Lou, helped to sink Westfields in this entertaining Aspire Midland Alliance clash.

Westfields started well in front of their new manager, John Layton, but sloppy play turned an early 1-0 advantage into a 3-1 deficit with just seven minutes remaining.

Although Mark Hibbard struck Westfields’ second goal in the 89th minute, the Hereford club endured a disappointing defeat on a humid afternoon at allpay.park.

With Layton having taken up his managerial role in midweek, assistant boss Jon Hill picked the Westfields line-up for last Saturday’s match.

The ex-Hereford United chief must have been impressed early on because Westfields started brightly and Danny Hill and Hibbard both went close to scoring.

Hill made another surging run in the 15th minute before curling a shot into the arms of Biddulph’s goalkeeper Phil McGing and it was no surprise when Westfields went ahead a minute later.

A neat exchange between striker Mark Davis and Jamie Edwards opened up the visiting defence and Edwards clipped a left-foot shot across McGing and into the net off the inside of the far post.

Westfields deserved their lead but it lasted only four minutes because a mix-up between goalkeeper Bryn Watkins and defender Alex Hunt gifted Macari a simple tap-in from close range.

The Stoke side took the lead in curious circumstances in the 26th minute from a free-kick on the edge of the box after a foul by Hibbard. Watkins lined-up the Westfields wall only for Daniel Smith to drill a low shot inside the goalkeeper’s right-hand post.

Westfields dominated the remainder of the first half and were unlucky not to draw level through Paul Allam, who beat a defender and rifled a shot against a Biddulph post in the 35th minute.

Davis forced McGing into making a decent save and then Hill struck a snap-shot narrowly wide as Westfields pushed for an equaliser before the interval.

Watkins pushed away a goal-bound shot from Matt Pearson before Biddulph thought they had extended their lead on the hour when John Jones tucked the ball home after excellent work by Simon Everall but the effort was ruled out for offside.

Westfields responded strongly. Hill fired into the side-netting before Davis narrowly failed to connect with an Edwards corner and then Hill sent a header straight at McGing.

The Hereford club should have equalised in the 82nd minute after Terry Green threaded the ball through to Davis.

But McGing pulled off an excellent save to hold the striker’s close-range effort and Biddulph made Westfields pay with a crucial third goal within 60 seconds.

Pearson picked up a loose ball and slipped a pass to Simon Everall who raced clear to fire an angled-drive beyond Watkins and put the match out of Westfields’ reach.

Westfields set up an exciting finale when Hibbard was played in by Davis and lobbed McGing in the 89th minute.

Biddulph held on for the win to leave the Hereford club wondering how they failed to collect at least a point.