Petersfield Town 0 Beaconsfield SYCOB 6: APPALLING decision making by the match officials was the main contributing factor to Petersfield being thrashed at home by Beaconsfield on Saturday.

Video evidence viewed by Rams officials after the match clearly showed that the referee should have shown at least two red cards to the visiting team when you judge the incidents against those which led to Nick Awford and Harry Giles being given their marching orders.

Petersfield striker Zach Nicholson-Pibworth’s season may well be over after he was left with a dislocated shoulder and ligament damage following what appeared to be a cynical kick-out by Beaconsfield defender Lee Rushe off the ball which the referee Martin Bloor deemed was worthy of only a booking.

The decision to dismiss Awford looked extremely harsh – video evidence shows little more than the two players colliding with each other as they moved out of the penalty area. Visiting players quickly surrounded the referee and protested furiously to get Awford sent off – and they got their wish.

In the melee which followed Giles’ sending off, at least two visiting players appeared to throw punches and raise their hands but again they went unpunished as only a yellow card for each side was shown after a 20 man brawl.

Rams boss John Robson got his marching orders too – he intervened in the melee after a visiting player appeared to scrape his studs down the leg of a Petersfield player.

Frustrations threatened to boil over again in the closing minutes when Ryan Hill produced a tackle similar to the kind Giles was sent off for but not even a card was shown. If substitute Stuart Green hadn’t jumped out of the way he would have ended up seriously injured from the studs up, over the top of the ball tackle.

The afternoon could have been so different though with the Rams starting brightly and producing some decent chances to take the lead.

In only the second minute, Awford and Giles combined to win possession in midfield and they sent Matt Andrews clear of the defence. However, he took too long to get his shot off and a defender recovered to block his effort behind for a corner.

Andrews had a similar chance on 22 minutes when he was put clear behind the visiting defence again and he lifted his shot past keeper Samuel Bunting but it bounced off the outside of the post and was cleared to safety.

Awford was shown his red card on 25 minutes and Giles followed him back to the dressing room ten minutes later. Petersfield’s Harry Medway and Beaconsfield’s Komal Llewellyn Reed were booked for their part in the brawl.

The visitors then took the lead three minutes before half time when the ball was only partially cleared after it was crossed into the box and Charlie Losasso hit his shot through a crowd of players and into the net.

The game was already over as a contest when the second half got under way and Beaconsfield got their second goal on 51 minutes when Aaron Berry beat keeper George Hill at his near post with a low shot.

Ryan Hill almost scored when Petersfield took a free kick too quickly and they lost possession on the edge of their own box but he put his effort into the side netting.

The third goal came on 55 minutes when the home defence got stretched out of position and eventually the ball found Spencer Maw on the right hand side of the penalty area and he fired his shot home low into the net.

Petersfield had a great chance to pull a goal back on the hour mark when substitute Stuart Green took the ball into the penalty area only to see his prod towards goal blocked by Bunting and the follow up effort was cleared to safety.

Goal four came on 68 minutes when Maw scored again – this time his shot squirmed under Hill’s body – and the fifth goal came on 80 minutes when Aaron Minhas smashed the ball home off the underside of the crossbar from close range.

The scoring was completed six minutes later when substitute Callum Bunting powered his shot home from close range.

Petersfield’s afternoon – and perhaps their season – was typified by Chris Harvey’s effort from 35 yards out in the closing stages of the match. It looked to be flying into the roof of the net but it thumped against the crossbar instead.