WOODLEY United’s Danny Horscroft scored the only goal of the game as his side downed previously unbeaten Penn & Tylers Green 1-0 to move within five points of the Hellenic League Division One East leaders with three games in hand.

The table-topping visitors went into the game having scored an impressive 45 goals in their previous 11 games, and it didn’t take Green long to create their first opportunity – however Woodley centre back Joe Barley did well to block a shot from Casey Bocarro.

United’s first chance came courtesy of a superb counter-attack as Horscroft picked out Greg Beckett with a fantastic ball who in turn crossed to Charlie Oakley who headed wide.

The visitors continued to press and Fred Tripp missed to the right after a one-two, before a cross from the left found Bocarro who could not control a difficult chance.

Midway through a cagey half where chances were sparse, Alex Reed pulled off his first save, tipping over a free-kick that had deflected off a United head.

The second half started with Beckett having a shot blocked, and an hour in saw strong claims for a United penalty when a header from the same player appeared to be handled on the goal line.

At the other end, Penn’s Josh Fox came within inches of getting the game’s first goal when he chipped over Reed only to see his effort land on the roof of the net.

More Penn pressure followed; a deep free-kick was only cleared to a red shirt on the right of the box. The shot that followed was going wide but prodded goalwards by Chris Hurst and just missed to the left.

With 10 minutes left, Woodley went ahead. Captain Idris Kamara recovered from a slip before picking out Horscroft with a superb pass. Bringing the ball down just inside the box, the United midfielder coolly slotted past Josh Cockerill and into the right corner.

The last five minutes saw Reed pull off two crucial saves to see his side to victory. Firstly, substitute George Weller latched onto a through ball but could not beat the Woodley keeper who was off his line quickly to narrow the angle, and in injury time, Reed pulled off an unbelievable stop to turn over a curling effort from Bocarro.

Woodley United visit FC Beaconsfield in the Berks & Bucks Intermediate Cup on Saturday (1.30pm).