Hanwell Town 2 Petersfield Town 2: THE FAMOUS old football saying goes ‘it was a game of two halves’ and if you ever needed a game to act as a case study for that phrase then this match at Hanwell on Saturday would be perfect.

In the first half Petersfield were in complete command against a poor looking home side and if they had gone in at half time four or five goals up there would have been no complaints.

But in the second half their dominance evaporated as Hanwell wiped out their two goal lead and threatened to snatch all three points in a tense finale.

It was a performance – which at one stage showed so much promise with new signings Adam Brice and Oliver Bailey making their debuts - which had the Rams’ football management team completely baffled after the final whistle.

Petersfield had started the match so brightly and again they showed why if they can find some consistency with their form, they could yet challenge for a place in the upper reaches of the Division 1 Central table.

They took the lead after four minutes when a cross from the right found Howard Neighbour at the near post and keeper Cain Davies blocked his attempted flick past him. The ball ran to Danny Thompson on the left hand edge of the penalty area and his cross was met by Neighbour who headed the ball into the net.

Five minutes later Joe Briggs latched on to a through ball on the left hand side of the penalty area, took the ball around Davies but the keeper recovered to block a goalbound shot. The rebound fell to Briggs who tried to curl his shot into the far corner of the net but his effort missed the target.

After a period of almost complete dominance but not marked with any additions to their goal tally, the Rams doubled their lead on 37 minutes. The ball was played up the right hand side to Thompson, who set the ball back to Olly Searle.

His cross found Jamie Ford running into the penalty area and he got in front of the keeper to head the ball into the empty net.

Petersfield almost got their third goal three minutes into the second half when Briggs was put clear on the right and his fierce low cross across the face of goal was almost slid home by Bailey at the far post but he just missed the ball.

The Rams lost their skipper Ford just after that when he had to leave the field with a dislocated elbow, with further treatment required in hospital after the game.

The flow of the match seemed to completely change on that incident as the home side suddenly burst into life.

A warning of what was to come came on 53 minutes when Hanwell closed down Lewis Hyde in midfield and after snatching the ball off him Harry Newman raced clear before hitting a low shot across goal and wide of the far post.

Hanwell’s way back into the match on 64 minutes was fortunate for them when a cross from the left was completely missed by Denilson Vincente and as Brice tried to control the ball before clearing it, instead it hit his leg and flew into his own net from close range.

Bailey went close to restoring Petersfield’s two goal advantage three minutes later when he was left unmarked on the edge of the box during a corner and his spectacular looking volley over his shoulder only just missed the top corner of the goal.

A minute later brought some good play up the left wing for Petersfield and Bailey pulled the ball back to Briggs on the edge of the box but his goalbound shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Hanwell scored an impressive equaliser on 71 minutes when good forward play stretched the Petersfield defence. Vincente passed the ball inside to Tyler Christian-Law, who did the same to Newman and he had the time and space to fire his shot low under Anthony Ender and into the net.

The home side broke clear almost immediately again and Christian-Law this time set up substitute Sam Nair but he shot straight at Ender.

With nine minutes remaining Neighbour went close with a speculative curling shot from just inside the penalty area which bounced off the crossbar and went behind.

On 85 minutes Petersfield had a great chance to go back in front when a cross from the left found substitute Joe Richardson unmarked in front of goal but his header had no pace on it and Davies easily gathered his effort.

The home side almost snatched the three points in injury time when Vincente latched on to a through ball put in behind the Rams’ defence and the Hanwell forward managed to lift the ball over Ender but his shot dropped into the side netting.

Petersfield: Ender, Searle, Wain, Brice, Sackman, Ford (Richardson), Hyde, Thompson (Neal), Neighbour, Briggs, Bailey. Subs not used: Cope, Norgate, Read.