Petersfield Continue Winning Ways

Petersfield welcomed 11th placed Gosport whom currently look to be avoiding the relegation spot whilst Petersfield continue to close the gap promotion spot holders Chichester and Basingstoke.
Petersfield battled against the flurry of snow and ensured the warm up reduced all risk of injury.

Petersfield begun with the ball and begun by keeping possession and exploiting the gaps in the field Gosport left open. Petersfield gained early attempts yet were denied by the Gosport keeper. The defence of Petersfield; Marlow, Clay, Vickers and Hawkins changed the channel of play calmly yet with speed in a bid to tire the opposition. This was supported by the Midfield creating space in the middle allowing a straight ball to be dispatched through to the Petersfield forwards; Hind, Soper and Harris whom were denied on a handful of occasions. Despite the Gosport defence demonstrating resilience, Petersfield pressed forward and grabbed a goal an attempt from Harris. The intensity of Gosport soon changed due to the goal against them and began to charge forward towards the heart of goal. Hulme, Grinstead and Terry battled out in the Midfield where possible to prevent overloads taking place. Gosport squeezed into the circle with fine wing play and equalised before the half time whilstle with a well worked penalty corner routine.
Petersfield assessed their performance during the first half and set out the plan to execute within the second where more goals would hopefully occur.
Gosport began and turned up the heat once again. This caused real grit and determination to be shown by all Petersfield players on the pitch despite the reasons of foul play. Petersfield worked hard as a team supporting going forwards but also ensuring every man was behind the ball when not in possession. Petersfield defended the circle tightly, with guidance from keeper Smith. Petersfield were able to counter the attempts from Gosport yet no shot ended in the key result. Petersfield fought hard and were rewarded with a penalty corner as the Gosport defence struggled to keep up with the quick hands of Soper and Harris within the circle. Harris stood at the top of the circle and executed a lightning drag flick into the net to steal the lead with ten minutes remaining.

Petersfield changed tactics with the lead and held out a 2-1 win despite the finest of effort from Gosport.
The home victory allows Petersfield to remain within 3rd spot of Hampshire Division 2.
Petersfield's next fixture sees a local Derby clash against Alton. 1330PB at Bedales School.

Team: Smith, Marlow, Clay, Vickers, Hawkins, Terry, Grinstead (c), Hulme, Soper, Hind and Harris.