AFC Dunstable 3 Petersfield Town 1: PETERSFIELD Town were hit by another one of their Groundhog Days on the road at Dunstable on Saturday.

For the first 40 minutes of the match they looked more than comfortable against a side riding high in the division but then from nowhere they hit their now infamous self-destruct button and found themselves 2-0 down after just a minute of the second half.

The players looked distraught as they left the pitch but that was because they knew this was another game where they could have been travelling home with at least a point in the bag.

Petersfield’s formula for winning matches looks simple – cut out the periods of mistakes and lapses in concentration and recruit another striker or two to give themselves some fire power up front.

That might look too simplistic but the talent to get themselves out of trouble can be found in the current squad - they just need to show more fight and battle to scrap their way out of the danger zone.

There was little in the way of chances for either side in the first half but Petersfield went closest first to breaking the deadlock just after the half hour mark. Nick Awford worked the ball to Will Essai and his low shot from 25 yards out was gathered up safely by keeper Ricky Perks.

A few moments later the home side went close when Abel Mannion played the ball inside from the right wing to Josh Humbert at the near post. Keeper Jamie Bray had to beat away his snap shot and the rebound hit the home striker and bounced away to safety.

Then came seven minutes of madness for the visitors. AFC Dunstable took the lead on 43 minutes when the Petersfield defence couldn’t get the ball away from the edge of their own box and it was worked out to the right towards Mannion, who hit a low cross into the near post and Jermaine Hall diverted the ball into the net.

Petersfield should have been level a minute later when the ball was crossed in from the right on to the head of Matt Andrews. He sent a bullet header goalwards from the penalty spot but as he was falling backwards, Perks managed to scoop the ball up and over the bar.

In first half injury time Hall completely missed the ball when it was crossed into his path inside the penalty area and he went closer still when he was put clear inside the box but as he tried to lift his shot past Bray, the keeper got his arm to the ball and diverted it on to the crossbar.

AFC Dunstable’s second goal in the first minute after half time was the stuff of nightmares for the Rams’ defence. A throw in from the right was allowed to bounce along the six yard box and Hall couldn’t believe his luck when he had the simplest of tap-ins to score.

The rest of the half became a game of end to end football played at a frenetic pace. Olly Searle tried his luck from 35 yards out for Petersfield but Perks made an easy save and at the other end Jordan Geddes just beat Hall to the ball to prevent him from completing his hat-trick via a cross into the near post.

Bernard Christie had a shot deflected wide, Mannion missed his chances to score with a header and then a shot across goal, and he then turned provider when he squared a pass to Christie but he fired wide of the target.

Petersfield got what could have been an unlikely lifeline to get back into the game with nine minutes remaining when they broke down the right and the ball was crossed to the far side of the box and into the path of Essai, who hit a low shot back across goal and under Perks’ dive into the back of the net.

However, the home side made sure of all three points in the final minute of the match when a direct through ball was not dealt with by the Petersfield defence and Humbert latched on to it before dispatching his shot past Bray and into the net.

Petersfield: Bray, Searle, Graham, Giles, Medway, Geddes (Harvey), Larbi, Awford (Alozie), Andrews, Wedlake (Connor), Essai. Sub not used: Tucker.