Harris Hatrick in First Win of Season

Petersfield hosted Chichester in their first fixture of the league competition. Petersfield were hoping to start the season strong and bag the 3 points on offer. Petersfield have previously played friendly fixtures against an invitational squad with the Cunliffe Cup on offer as reward and the Veteran side where pride was the only reward. Petersfield First XI has changed somewhat due to new recruits signed in pre-season. Petersfield welcomed new Goalkeeper, Alex Smith, Defender, Stan Marlow and Midfielders,Bruce Terry and Niall Gray, whom have all showed great promise, adapted to the Petersfield style of play and flourished with the new squad socially.

Captain Grinstead completed the coin toss whilst Harris worked the squad into a frenzy until Grinstead returned with the news of starting with possession and passing on any comments from both umpires. Grinstead then set the plan of attack and discussed the tactics to be utilised in a
bid to start the season off with a win. Petersfield created waves of attacks early on and were rewarded with an early goal as Harris put the ball into the net. Petersfield with momentum were cut short despite holding off a number of attacks from Chichester as the umpires decided the colours clash, despite the initial start. After the 10 minute interruption and kit change, Petersfield now donning their red away jerseys, set up a second time and resumed play on the signal of the umpire. The interruption caused some havoc with the organisational play of the Petersfield side as men were caught out of position which allowed Chichester to get themselves back in the game as they equalised after beating a defender and slotting the ball across the line. With Petersfield heads down, lacking the initial momentum, Chichester took full advantage and held no prisoner when they overcrowded the circle and stole a second goal to take the lead. Chichester, with the lead then attempted to control the flow and take the lead into the half time break. Much to their disgust, keeper Smith, controlled his defense and commands coming through the squad to the front-line through Hawkins and Grinstead. A team play which included a string of passes and recycling of the ball from side to side, in a bid to catch the Chichester defence off guard which found Terry in space and able to unleash a lifted slap into the roof of the net after connecting with J. Atkinson's ball across the penalty spot, equalling the score for the half time break.

At the break Petersfield regrouped, voices of the men amongst the squad were heard, whilst Grinstead analysed the opinions before setting the squad up for the second half. With a plan in place and all understanding their role set, Petersfield let off their battle cry before lining up and throwing positive encouragement around the whole team as they awaited the visitors to finish their team talk and the umpires to give the signal. Petersfield increased the momentum and pace previously set and caused the opposition to make many of mistake as they hassled their opponents in pairs. Organisation from the defence and midfield allowed interceptions to be easily made and create an attack which led to further goals for the Petersfield side as Harris & J. Atkinson both added another to the tally. Chichester became extremely frustrated with the fact they conceded two quick fire goals and soon found themselves completing the walk of shame to the sin-bin area after foul mouth talk towards umpires and interesting tackles were only rewarded with a variety of coloured cards. As the fixture was coming to a close with 10 minutes remaining, the tired legs of Petersfield began to change the story. Chichester were given the opportunity to create more attacking chances and late challenges saw two Petersfield players taking the same walk Chichester completed before. Chichester capitalised on the overload and stole a goal back before Petersfield returned to full strength, re-lifting their hope of stealing points with the score 4-3. A reshuffle of fresh players once Petersfield were back to full strength provided a new leash of energy where Harris buried all hope from Chichester with a 3rd goal to secure his hatrick in the final minutes of play. Petersfield with a two goal advantage took an extremely cautious approach, ensuring all passes were clean, accurate and into space while the clock ticked closer and closer till the moment it was blown for the last time, signalling the first win of the season for Petersfield!

Team: Smith, Marlow, Alder, Hawkins, Rye, Edney, Hughes-Stanton, Grinstead (c), Lane, Harris, J. Atkinson, Terry, Harding, Edwards and Hind.