Petersfield Town were promoted to the Wessex League Premier Division in dramatic fashion as they beat New Milton Town on penalties in the play-off final on Saturday.

Alex Barsa was the hero with the goal and winning penalty to send the Rams back to the top table of the Wessex League for the first time since 2018.

The Rams ventured forward early on and Connor Hoare slotted Ollie Davies in, but he fired narrowly wide.

Petersfield opened the scoring after 26 minutes. Davies brought the ball down in the centre of the pitch and rolled it into Hoare. His hold up play allowed Barsa to make an overlapping run and as three men converged on Hoare he slotted into Barsa, who took one touch before firing high into the roof of the net.

Petersfield came out to seal the game in the second half and had some golden opportunities. A fine ball from Hoare found Paul Agbeseyi, but he fired his shot at the home keeper.

New Milton did create a couple of chances, and Luke Stone spun on the edge of the area and fired wide. Ten minutes later Tyrrell Sampson hit a long-range effort that Rams keeper Harry Greenfield held at the second attempt.

Rams substitute Marvin Orepo broke through on goal on 72 minutes. He tried to dink the ball past the New Milton keeper, but his effort went over.

Archie Greenough almost doubled Petersfield's advantage, but his effort was stopped on the line.

The Rams were made to pay for their wastefulness in the 82nd minute as Sampson bagged the equaliser. The ball fell kindly outside the box, and Sampson fired a cracking effort into the far corner on the turn.

Neither side was able to find a winner, and the match went to penalties. New Milton's Aaron Scott hit the post with his penalty before Greenfield saved Noel McCarthy-Gardiner’s kick. Barsa stepped up and slotted into the bottom corner to seal Petersfield's promotion as the Rams won 4-2 on penalties.