Patient Petersfield Conquer Southampton University

Petersfield travelled away to Southampton University despite being depleted due to illness and injury. The XI men of Petersfield gathered at the Sports Centre, discussed the newly formed formation and tactics for the fixture before the warm up took place.

Petersfield were caught out twice within the early minutes as the Uni side overloaded the left hand side, yet the crosses played across the front of goal went unanswered. This caused a swift positional switch with the defence and midfield which proved to be a huge advantage to the Petersfield side.

Petersfield worked hard defensively with Clay, Hawkins, Vickers and W. Atkinson supported by Grinstead and Terry. All efforts were prevented within the first half and then distributed to wide men and forwards Hind, J. Atkinson, Hughes-Stanton and Alder. The change of direction caught out the Uni defence and were fortunate J. Atkinson had not quote discovered his shooting boots.

After adjusting his sights, on a counter attack, J. Atkinson beat the last defender with a quick change of hands before sending the ball into the goal, stealing the lead. Southampton stuck with there change of play style, switching the ball left to right, attempting to break into a gap left by the Petersfield side. Petersfield moved as a team, and created many walls of defence which began to frustrate the opposition. The patient style from Petersfield came to another advantage when Southampton were caught out. Hughes-Stanton intercepted a loose pass and attacked with pace. After loosing the opposition within his tracks he pushed the ball out of reach, into the bottom corner to extend the lead. Southampton's play seemed affected by the second goal and Petersfield were able to take further control of the game, retaining possession and forging their own attacks. Late on in the first half J. Atkinson added another with a deflected goal to take a 3-0 lead into the half time break after a quick corner routine involving Alder and Grinstead.

Captain Grinstead gathered his side and discussed the opening half, and set out additional tactics. Petersfield were set for the second half after a positive start. Within the opening minutes of the restart. Petersfield broke down the left hand side with Alder, Hind and J. Atkinson. J. Atkinson has his shot initially saved yet Hind was there to sweep the rebound into the roof of the next.

With the 4-0 lead, Petersfield began to save their fitness levels and increased the defensive play. This allowed Southampton to build an increased number of attacks yet the walls built by the defensive lines were almost unbreakable. Smith was called into action as a loose ball in the circle found their striker yet lightning reactions kept them at bay. With a real taste of goal, Southampton increased the pressure on the Petersfield defense of Vickers, Clay, Hawkins and W. Atkinson. All remained calm and continued to play the ball across the back lines to safe positions. As time was ticking by, Petersfield looked to be set for a 4-0 victory yet a late burst into the circle saw a penalty corner awarded. Hawkins broke down the set play yet due to technical ruling, a penalty corner was rewarded. With the second attempt, Southampton stole the clean sheet hopes from the Petersfield side where the fixture concluded 4-1 in Petersfield's favour.

With the victory, Petersfield move ahead in the league standings to 3rd place with only four games remaining. Petersfield host Poole in the next fixture scheduled this weekend at Bedales School, 1315 PB.

Team: Smith, Clay, Vickers, Hawkins, W. Atkinson, Grinstead, Terry, Hughes-Stanton, Alder, Hind and J. Atkinson.