Chalfont St Peter 2 Petersfield Town 1: Petersfield Town were given another lesson in the harsh realities of life in the Southern League when they lost on their travels to west London again on Saturday.

A casual observer of this game would have told you the league table was upside down if you had said the home side were second and the Rams were in 18th place afterwards.

However, the league placings don’t reflect missed chances and although the visitors looked much the better side for most of this encounter, Chalfont showed they have the know-how of how to grab goals at the right times and how to grind out victories at this level.

Petersfield also had little luck with the match officials – they had a goal ruled out for offside in the opening minutes when the player who scored looked at least five yards onside, they had a stonewall penalty turned down in the closing minutes and minimal stoppage time was added despite the home side constantly trying to run down the clock throughout the second half.

After the opening exchanges it looked like there was only going to be one winner as Petersfield completely dominated the play.

After two minutes Joe Richardson got in behind the home defence on the right and pulled the ball back to Howard Neighbour whose shot was deflected wide.

Three minutes later saw Rams fans in attendance have to endure one of the worst offside decisions you are ever likely to see.

Joe Briggs and Alek Przespolewski combined to feed the ball into the path of Richardson, who burst into the box. As keeper Michael Power-Simpson raced off his line Richardson chipped the ball over his dive and into the net.

But then from nowhere came a late flag from the linesman. Richardson had started his run from a clear onside position – and he looked onside by several yards it should be said. There weren’t even any protests from the home defence but the linesman saw things differently and the score remained at 0-0.

Petersfield’s domination continued. On eight minutes Briggs got in behind the defence on the right and pulled the ball back to Mike McEnery but Power-Simpson blocked his shot at point blank range.

Four minutes later a corner was floated into the box from the right and it dropped to Neighbour who volleyed the ball first time and his effort whistled narrowly wide of the post. Then McEnery got clear on the left and cut inside his marker and tried to curl his shot into the net but it went just wide of the far post.

Anthony Mendy then gave the Rams a warning of what was about to come by going close with two good chances and then at the other end Jamie Ford got to a corner from the left before everyone else but his flick on went just wide of the target.

Chalfont took the lead on 18 minutes when a long punt forward by Power-Simpson was knocked on into the path of Mendy. He chased down the ball and got to it before keeper Charlie Searle could smother it, toe poking his shot past the keeper and over the line.

Mendy should have got his second on 29 minutes when Adam Louth got clear on the left and pulled the ball back to him. The striker rode one challenge but with the goal at his mercy he fired well over the crossbar.

A minute later and Petersfield should have been level when Briggs created some space for himself to cross from the left and his ball found Richardson right in front of goal but his glancing header went well wide of the target.

Chalfont doubled their lead on 31 minutes when a ball down the right found Mendy, who managed to play the ball inside to Aaron Lansiquot.

He slipped the ball inside his marker and then struck his shot under Searle’s dive from 15 yards out.

Two minutes later and the visitors got themselves on the scoresheet. A corner was only half cleared by the home defence and Richardson’s pass found Przespolewski, who flicked the ball past one challenge and then up into the air on the penalty spot and as Power-Simpson came off his line he smashed the ball past him and into the net.

During the half time interval many spectators were wondering how many goals would be scored if the two sides continued this open, flowing game.

Except Chalfont didn’t in the second period. Almost straight from the kick-off they looked to run the game down as much as they could and when the referee only added three to four minutes of stoppage time that didn’t seem to be an adequate reflection of the time wasting that had taken place.

But it worked form Chalfont’s perspective as the Rams struggled to fashion any chances of note during the second half.

On 52 minutes Petersfield worked the ball forward through their midfield and Neighbour knocked the ball on to McEnery, who shot low from just inside the penalty area and Power-Simpson had to show he had strong hands to be able to turn the goalbound shot around the post.

Two minutes later Neighbour and Przespolewski combined to set up Briggs with a chance but his effort was blocked by the keeper’s legs.

That was about it in terms of chances during the second half.

Petersfield seemed to use more long balls to try and unlock the Chalfont defence but as the half went on they seemed to get more confident about pushing forwards.

They could have settled the match with ten minutes remaining when Mendy was played through into the left hand side of the penalty area but as he lined up his shot Searle raced off his line and was in the right place to deflect the striker’s effort behind for a corner.

The Rams almost grabbed an equaliser just as the game ticked into injury time when a ball was played over the defence towards the far post and Briggs beat everyone to where it was going to drop but his slidding effort could only put the ball wide of the target.

Petersfield: C Searle, Hyde (O Searle), Wain, Woodford, Sackman, Ford, Richardson, Przespolewski, Neighbour (Neal), Briggs, McEnery. Subs not

used: Walker, Green, Thompson.