WOODLEY United were edged out 1-0 in their Hellenic League Division One East top-of-the-table clash at Penn & Tylers Green.

In front of a crowd in excess of 100, on a foggy damp day, the game was settled in the 13th minute in a game of few chances and where much of the play was in the middle third of the pitch.

From the kick-off United forced a corner while they were indebted to Joe Barley for clearing off his own goalline in the second minute from a Josh Fox effort that had beaten debutant Woodley keeper George Boughton when one-on-one with the keeper.

United responded with Jake Nicholls feeding the ball to Josh Drew only for it to overrun to the home team’s goalkeeper Josh Cockerill.

A foul by Greg Beckett just inside the Woodley half resulted in a free-kick being crossed into the visitors' penalty area where Chris Hurst headed home for Penn’s goal.

With the momentum from the goal, the visitors struggled to put pressure on the hosts penalty area and it was not until the 21st minute that Danny Horscroft found Josh Drew whose low cross was cleared by Jack Harding in desperate fashion for a corner.

Goalscoring opportunities for the remainder of the half were at a premium with Boughton pushing a shot away for a corner following a second phase of play from a Penn free-kick, while Charlie Oakley saw a pass to him in the final minute of the half evade him and go to Fox.

The introduction of Suhki Kang at half-time and Horscroft moving into midfield saw United start the opening 15 minutes of the second period with good tempo and purpose that resulted in Drew firing straight at Cockerill.

A minute later his effort hit the base of the post, while Cockerill also denied Horscroft.

The first Penn attack of the half came on 62 minutes which ended in Boughton saving a shot and four minutes later Fred Tripp forced the goalkeeper to push the ball away for a corner following a full-length diving save.

With the next goal being important in deciding the match, both sides were wary of conceding chances to the extent that Penn only had one further worthwhile effort which resulted in Casey Bocarro putting an effort over the crossbar following a cross from the left flank.

United were also finding it frustrating breaking down the home team defence with Drew forcing one further save from Cockerill, while Oakley had claims for a penalty turned down in the last minute when he fell under pressure from a Penn defender.

Second-placed Woodley United host AFC Aldermaston on Saturday (3pm).