BEARWOOD United produced an impressive performance to get the better of Hayward Saturday League Division Five leaders Parkside Wanderers 2-0 in last Thursday night's Holmwood Will Writing sponsored M A Hart Hayward Cup Final at Hurn Bridge.

The crowd of more than 250 respectfully observed a minute's silence before the game in memory of Parkside Wanderers' prolific goalscorer Gary Anderson who sadly died in February.

The game started at a lively tempo and there were plenty of thrills and spills with players slipping and sliding on the wet surface. The early pressure came from Bearwood but Dean Johnson went close for Parkside in their first attack after six minutes, his shot cannoning off a defender for a corner.

There were chances at both ends midway through the first half with Bearwood midfielder Jamie Lever's 35-yard effort only just clearing the crossbar while a shot on the turn from Parkside's John Carrington went narrowly wide.

Parkside went close to opening the scoring in the 32nd minute when the ball was headed on to Johnson, just outside the penalty area, and Johnson's brilliant first-time effort thudded against the foot of the post.

Parkside discovered that giving away free kicks around the edge of the penalty area was a risky business with dead ball specialist Marc Scrimshaw's ability to curl the ball over a defensive wall and the Bearwood striker went close on a couple of occasions.

It was from another type of dead ball situation though that Bearwood took the lead a minute before half time. A corner from the right was headed on at the near post and Leighton Clarke was perfectly placed to head the ball into the top corner of the net in front of the William Pickford Stand.

There was another opportunity for Scrimshaw to demonstrate his prowess with free kicks when Parkside substitute Joe Bond brought down Colin Webb just outside the penalty area in the 59th minute but he curled the ball just over the bar.

Bond was in action at the other end five minutes later but his run down the right was halted when he ran into a crunching tackle from Bearwood's defensive colossus Shaun Stevenson who was chosen by Premier League referee Keith Stroud, representing the Hampshire FA, as the man of the match.

The Parkside goal had a couple of narrow escapes before Bearwood scored their second goal in the 72nd minute. Matt Crouch had foiled Andrew Ward when he tried to get on the end of a through ball but the Parkside keeper had no chance less than a minute later, when Webb latched onto a ball played through the middle and clinically slotted it into the corner of the net.

Bearwood United: Guy Andrew, Danny Parker, James Portess, Lewis Plowman, Shaun Stevenson, Leighton Clarke, Marc Scrimshaw, Jamie Lever (Mark Reilly 69 mins), Darryl Shaw (George Bull 84 mins), Colin Webb (George Earl 89 mins), Andrew Ward. Unused subs: Djamel Meddah and Matthew Jones. Manager: Steve Clake Assistant: Matthew Jones. Coach: Richard Clarke. Physio: Steve Bell.

Parkside Wanderers: Matt Crouch, Gary Dyer, Arron Williams, John Carrington (Jonathon Morris 54 mins), Carl Jones, Danny Gardner (Joe Bond 45 mins), Dean Johnson, Julian Belton, Aidan Williamson, Brian McAnally, Mike Cole (Kenny Lyons 77 mins). Unused sub: Peter Williams. Manager: Dave Owens. Assistant: Dennis Cullen. Coach/Physio: Frank Scowcroft.

Referee: Ray Jones. Assistants: Dave Loney, Frank Passos. Fourth Official: Andrew Sidney.