Petersfield Town 1 Westbury United 3: AFTER four successive away games Petersfield Town returned to action at Love Lane on Saturday with an FA Vase tie against Westbury United.

Westbury play one level above the Rams in the Western League Premier Division and, having won six out of their seven previous games in all competitions, they were expected to provide a stern test for the home side.

The visitors had the edge early on but the Rams soon settled and in the 15th minute a good move ended with Olly Kershaw’s shot forcing a fine save from Ed Baldy.

In the 27th minute Westbury went close as Rams keeper Tim Jackson saved well but in the 32nd minute they took the lead through Joe Stradling.

Undaunted by this setback Petersfield responded well and deservedly equalised in the 41st minute when a superb move was finished off by Harry Giles.

The opening 15 minutes of the second half proved costly for Petersfield as Callum Demkiv took full advantage of some slack defending to score in the 48th and 58th minutes to put Westbury firmly in the driving seat.

The Rams took a while to recover from this but did manage to create some chances in the final 20 minutes of the game, the best of these coming from Giles and Jordan Geddes.

In added time Jackson produced a good save to deny Westbury substitute Francois Allen and ensure the scoreline stayed respectable.

Overall Petersfield acquitted themselves well against a good side, and although it was disappointing to go out of the competition they have every reason to remain optimistic for the challenges ahead.