Westfield buoyant after double swoop

Ben Oakman put pen to paper with the Sussex County Football League Division Two outfit on Tuesday night after fellow former Bexhill United player Chris Sanderson committed himself to the Westies on Saturday.

Highly-rated Oakman, 20, trained with Queens Park Rangers last summer and was number one in the Bexhill side which was promoted from Division Three in 2009/10 before finishing fourth in Division Two last term.

Sanderson, an accomplished midfielder who has also played for Sidley United, made an impressive start to the 2010/11 campaign with Bexhill before being stopped in his tracks by injury.

The arrivals of Oakman and Sanderson takes Westfield’s tally of close season recruits to five following the capture of two more ex-Bexhill players in Gordon Cuddington and Joe White, plus Little Common defender Lee Wood.

Westfield joint manager Tony Harris said: “As you can imagine, we’re very pleased with how things are shaping up, not only on the pitch with all of last season’s squad putting pen to paper and a number of lads rejecting overtures from other local clubs, but also with our overall structure.”

The full article will appear in tomorrow’s Hastings and Battle Observers.