Petersfield Town 2 Fleet Town 2: PETERSFIELD Town got 2017 off to a solid start with a hard earned point from their north Hampshire derby encounter with Fleet Town.

The solid start was eventually completed after the Rams made the worst possible start to the new year when they went behind after only 20 seconds of Bank Holiday Monday’s game at Love Lane.

But they recovered to take a deserved lead during the first half and when the visitors netted an equaliser at the beginning of the second period, the home side dug in to grind out the draw.

There was certainly plenty of action early on in this game, with the home side letting the visitors score from a kick-off that Petersfield took themselves.

The ball was passed back to the Rams’ defence but given away straight away 25 yards out and Fleet striker Pat Cox seized on the loose ball.

He then fired his shot into the top left hand corner of the net with barely 20 seconds registering on the watch from the start of the match.

But it took Petersfield just six minutes to get back on level terms when the visiting defence made a similarly sleepy start to 2017. The home side picked up possession around 25 yards out from goal and when the ball was worked to Billy Connor he waited for it to drop to his feet and then hit an unstoppable shot straight into the top corner of the net.

This strike was his fifth goal in six appearances for the first team – an exciting start to life with a Southern League club for the youngster.

The home side then almost shot themselves in the foot defensively again three minutes later when Lawrence Larbi gave the ball away to Cox, who ran through to the edge of the box but thankfully for Petersfield he dragged his effort well wide of the target.

Fleet went close again on 19 minutes when the ball was worked down the left and Rob Carr rolled it into the path of Josh Francis, whose shot from ten yards out was blocked by keeper George Hill’s legs at his near post.

Petersfield took the lead on 32 minutes when they won a free kick in midfield. The ball was floated from the right towards the far post and Adam Cripps rose to send his header looping over Fleet keeper Ryan Pryce before it hit the underside of the crossbar and dropped over the line.

The Rams’ at times nervy defending almost allowed the visitors in to score five minutes before the interval. Chris Harvey allowed Simba Mlambo to get past him on the right hand side of the penalty area. The Fleet forward then took the ball around Hill before rolling his shot towards goal but Harvey recovered to slide the ball out for a corner.

Hill made two good saves at the start of the second half to keep the home side in front. First he got down low to ensure Ben White’s effort didn’t get past him and he then scooped Francis’ shot from the edge of the area over the crossbar.

However, the visitors got themselves back on level terms on 49 minutes when a corner from the left was floated towards the edge of the six yard box. Hill tried to come out and claim it but he was left clutching at fresh air when Josh Harfield rose to beat everyone to the cross and he nodded the ball home into the empty net.

After that Petersfield found themselves having to mount an increasingly rear-guard action as the half wore on, particularly in the final ten minutes, to ensure they got something from the match.

On 81 minutes substitute Danilo Cadete skipped past Harvey on the left hand side of the penalty area and after taking the ball forwards he scooped his shot well over the crossbar from a good scoring position.

Three minutes later Hill had to dive full length to his left to push White’s shot to one side and his defender Matt Graham got to the loose ball first to ensure it was cleared to safety.

A minute before the end Cadete cut in from the left and unleashed a shot from the edge of the box which Hill threw himself to his left again to push the effort around the post.

Petersfield: Hill, Searle (Geddes), Graham, Green, Harvey, Medway, Larbi (Essai), Tucker, Andrews (Corsaro), Connor, Cripps. Subs not used: Woodford, Needham.