Arlesey Town 6 Petersfield Town 1: IT’S STRANGE that Petersfield Town were handed such a thumping in a game which it looked like they were going to go on to win at one stage.

Despite going 2-0 down after only six minutes on Saturday, the Rams staged a first half fightback and after Dan Simmonds’ strike made it 2-1 at the interval, Petersfield looked to be in the driving seat and ready to take full control of the match.

However, they conceded two more goals in the first nine minutes of the second half and then two more in injury time to compound what turned into a miserable afternoon for the visitors.

Petersfield were well and truly left in the starting blocks by the home side when they went behind after only two minutes. A long ball straight down the middle of the pitch evaded the Rams’ defence and Jack Vasey ran through before slotting his shot past new Petersfield keeper Aaron Bufton.

Simmonds tried to get Petersfield back on level terms when he worked some space for himself 30 yards out before driving forward and hitting a shot which home keeper Bart Pedrycz had to push behind for a corner.

Arlesey doubled their lead on six minutes when the ball was played into the box and a cross found two home players unmarked and eventually Taylor Rhiney despatched the ball into the net off the far post.

After this early storm Petersfield slowly worked their way back into the match and they went close on 20 minutes when a long ball forward found Simmonds on the right and his low cross was backheeled towards goal by Jordan Neal but it went straight into the hands of Pedrycz.

On 29 minutes Stuart Green had a great chance to score when a free kick was floated towards the far post but the Rams skipper’s header flew across the face of goal and went wide of the target.

Petersfield got their goal three minutes later when Simmonds latched on to a ball played up the right hand side. He cut inside and beat a defender before hitting home an unstoppable shot from a tight angle into the far corner of the net.

All of that brightness and hope was extinguished by the home side three minutes into the second half when the Rams conceded at the worst possible time again. A through ball was only half blocked and Lewis Wilson had the necessary determination to run on and then hit a low shot home past Bufton.

It could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for some excellent blocks Bufton made in one-on-one situations – including one effort from Rafe Goodman as he tried to run clear.

However, the Rams keeper couldn’t prevent the same player from getting on the scoresheet on 54 minutes when he managed to block Goodman’s first attempt but the Arlesey player fired home the rebound.

If you thought things couldn’t get worse for Petersfield, they did. Harry Wedlake was given his marching orders after 70 minutes for his second yellow card of the match and then Jordan Neal had the goal at his mercy when Pedrycz’s save rolled to him but he fired the effort well over the top.

Rhiney tried to pick his spot when he got clear of the visiting defence but put the ball just wide and Bufton then had to deny Wilson and Lawrence Vaughen in the closing stages.

In the first minute of injury time at the end of the game, the home side got their fifth when Tony Williams got behind the Petersfield defence and had all the time he needed to place his shot into the net.

In the third minute of injury time another long ball straight down the middle of the pitch was not dealt with and Williams won the race with Bufton to beat the keeper to the ball and tuck home his shot.

Petersfield: Bufton, Buckland, Smith (Needham), Wedlake, Searle, Page, B Neal (Giles), Green (Grimshaw), J Neal, Simmonds, Hoare. Sub not used: Miroy.