Fleet Town 3 Petersfield Town 1: PETERSFIELD Town exited the FA Cup on Saturday as they lost at Fleet Town in the Preliminary Round.

Fleet play in the Southern League Division 1 Central, two tiers above the Rams, and were clear favourites going into the game.

The home side took the lead in the 12th minute with a shot from 30 yards out from Roland Silva that went over Tim Jackson and into the net. Fleet continued to press and increased their lead in the 19th minute with a well-placed shot from Billy Oram.

The Rams did not panic and gradually came more into the game, putting together some decent moves, with efforts from Luke Payne, Jordan Neal and Harry Giles. Fleet continued to threaten, with a stoppage time shot from Abdul Rajab their best effort.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first half had finished with play fairly even. However, Petersfield’s chances of turning the game around were dealt a severe blow in the 58th minute when Fleet were awarded a penalty which was struck home by Rajab to make it 3-0.

Undaunted, the Rams stuck to their task, increasingly looking dangerous and they reduced the deficit in the 72nd minute through a Ryan Kennedy header.

This prompted the best spell of the game for the visitors, and Will Essai hit a shot which came back off the crossbar, on to the keeper’s back and out for a corner, but Fleet held on to progress to the next round.