Petersfield Town fell to a 4-1 defeat at home to Sherborne Town in the Wessex League Premier Division in interim manager Rich Bessey’s first match in charge.

A period of ten minutes before the break saw the Rams concede four goals, leaving no chance to get back into the game.

A completely changed Petersfield side were competitive against play-off chasing Sherborne, but the visitors had the quality to put the game to bed.

Rams goalkeeper Chris Clark made a good stop after half an hour, before Sherborne’s Ollie Hebbard sent a free header over the bar as the visitors dominated possession.

Dec Cornish opened the scoring for the visitors in the 39th minute, slotting home after the ball bounced around the box.

Max Bray linked up well with Iggy Cake as the Petersfield striker sent an effort on goal, forcing Sherborne keeper Josh Attwood into a good stop.

The visitors doubled their advantage on 43 minutes when Anthony Herrin slotted calmly into the bottom corner.

It was 3-0 in the 45th minute when Alex Murphy pounced on a poor Petersfield pass to the edge of the box and lifted his finish over the advancing Clark and into the empty net.

Murphy grabbed his second of the afternoon in first-half stoppage time when his effort went in at the near post.

It was much-improved second half for Petersfield as the new squad began to gel and take shape.

The Rams pulled a goal back in the 59th minute when Bray’s cross from the left found Cake, whose acrobatic effort went in the far corner.

Petersfield nearly scored a second when Angelo Harris’ cross found Cake, whose first-time effort forced a good reaction save from Attwood.

“We were good for the first 39 minutes and good in the second half, but that spell before half-time cost us,” said Bessey.