Is Promotion Out of Reach?

Petersfield hosted league leaders Basingstoke on the sunny Saturday afternoon, which they knew would be a true challenge. Petersfield were hoping to extend their unbeaten run and keep promotion hopes alive with a victory by displaying true determination as they have done in past weeks. Captain Grinstead brought the team together and gave the briefing and to set the minds of the match day squad. The objective was key and all was put to test.

Just before the starting whistle, Petersfield huddled together and chanted their team call and distributed into team formation. Petersfield started with the ball and pieced together a variety of attacks and defensive methods in a bid to steal the advantage. Petersfield looked to be in control and were creating more chances than the visitors yet were left without a goal for some time. A key switch of play across the midfield and movement from the forwards saw Edwards burst down the right wing, and into the circle before he slapped the ball across the face of goal which Harris calmly placed a sweep into the bottom corner. A goal down, Basingstoke increased their intensity yet Petersfield held firm until the half time break.

The second half saw the fixture explode with all events possible. To begin, the Petersfield forwards, Harris, Edwards, Vickers & J. Atkinson were aiming to hit the heart of the Basingstoke defence yet all shot taken went adrift of the goal. The midfield of Hind, Grinstead, Gray and Hall continued the midfield battle of possession and continued to cut out the beginning of Basingstoke attacks. Petersfield defence came under increased attacks compared to the second half. Marlow pulled out a goal line save whilst Smith made an excellent diving stick save and saved a penalty flick. Clay, Hawkins, W. Atkinson and Harding continued to tackle hard and redistribute the ball further up the field. Basingstoke continued their attacks and soon found themselves 2-1 up in quick succession after roofing a shot into the net from close range, and jumping on a loose ball from 3 yards. Petersfield were quick to respond and set the score at 2-2. Hind stole a close range goal after Grinsteads initial strike at goal was saved by the Basingstoke keeper. With the equal score, both teams were desperate to steal an additional goal which resulted in end to end action and sanctioned tackles from both sides. Petersfield's defenders Harding and W. Atkinson were sent on a walk to the sin bin area whilst Basingstoke followed in the same fashion. in the last minutes of the game, the score could have gone either way, Yet Basingstoke on this occasion stole the lead after a long aerial ball created a counter attack due to a high press set by Petersfield. The striker went on to drive into the circle after beating the last man and strike the ball into the bottom corner where the fixture concluded 3-2 in the visitors favour.

The result saw Petersfield lose their first home game this season and the league leaders extend their points difference to 10 points with only 5 games remaining for the season. Petersfield will continue the points chase against 4th placed Southampton University.

Team: Smith, Marlow, Clay, W. Atkinson, Hawkins, Hind, Gray, Grinstead (C), Edwards, Harris, J. Atkinson, Harding, Hall and Vickers

MOM: Edwards
CM: Smith
DOD: Clay