AFC Portchester 2 Petersfield Town 1: PETERSFIELD Town crashed out of the Russell Cotes Cup in the cruellest of fashions last Tuesday night.

They equalised in this quarter final tie with just three minutes remaining but just when the game seemed to be heading towards a penalty shoot-out, the home side netted what proved to be the winner a minute later.

You could say the match summed up the Rams’ season to date – their Wessex Premier Division hosts took the lead and dominated the game in terms of chances but Petersfield came back into it late on but just when it looked like they might get something from the match those hopes were dashed.

Portchester had all of the chances early on as their forwards’ movement pulled the Petersfield defence all over the place.

On 12 minutes Tony Easter got the ball inside the penalty area on the left but he couldn’t get any power behind his shot and two minutes later Alex Baldaccino picked up the ball on the edge of the penalty area but he shot straight at keeper George Hill.

The home side took the lead on 18 minutes when they worked the ball up the right hand side of the pitch and it eventually found Baldaccino in space 15 yards out. He then fired off a shot which hit the inside of the near post and bounced into the net.

Portchester were threatening to overrun the Rams at this point and the next man to go close was former Petersfield striker Andy Todd, who got clear inside the penalty area after some quick passing play but Hill raced off his line to smother the ball.

Hill then had to tip Nathan Kirby’s rising shot over the crossbar and from the resulting corner Tom Cain had a free header in front of goal but he put it straight into the arms of Hill.

Portchester almost scored again from another corner when the ball had to be nodded off the line by a defender, who then had to block the follow up effort when Josh Warren tried to head home from close range.

Hill closed a busy half by blocking Easter’s shot with his legs after the Portchester player got clear inside the penalty area.

Any thoughts that the second half would be different for Petersfield evaporated three minutes after the break when Steve Ramsey’s shot from 20 yards out thumped against the crossbar.

The visitors finally had their first chance on goal after 63 minutes when Billy Connor found some space on the right and after cutting into the penalty area, he squared the ball to the far post where Matt Andrews was waiting but a defender managed to easily clear his effort on goal.

Ten minutes later Connor got clear of the home defence again and this time he forced keeper Cameron Scott into a save, deflecting his effort into the side netting.

Hill had to make a save down low at his feet when Baldaccino shot from the edge of the box before the Rams got their equalising goal. After good build up play the ball was worked into the penalty area and after an initial shot was partially blocked, Stuart Green ran in and whipped the loose ball into the top corner of the net.

However, Petersfield’s joy lasted barely 60 seconds before they were behind again. Portchester attacked down the right from the kick-off and Petersfield did little to stop the run forward until the ball was in their box.

Baldaccino’s shot was partially blocked but it rolled across the goal four yards out and to rub further salt into the Petersfield wounds, their former striker Todd was on hand to knock the ball into the net.

Petersfield: Hill, Searle, Graham, M Smith, Wycherley, Harvey, Kendall (Barnes), Green, Newman (Andrews), Connor, Cripps.