PETERSFIELD Veterans added the league cup to the league title, giving them a record of 21 straight Wessex Masters wins this season.

The semi final, against West Wilts, was a gritty affair, with defences dominating and little flair shown by either side. Rarely for this season, the midfield engine room of Hulme, Liddle and White failed to dominate the game, allowing West Wilts to attack with menace. After making a couple of good saves, Broadmeadow could do nothing to stop the Wiltshire side going ahead from close range. Petersfield responded almost immediately, with Dryden-Brownlee lifting the ball over the West Wilts keeper. Petersfield played with a little more composure in the second half, but were lucky when their keeper went unpunished for accidently upending the West Wilts centre-forward. McDermott scored the winning goal for Petersfield, neatly deflecting Dryden-Brownlee’s shot across goal to make it 2-1.

In the final against hosts, Haslemere, Petersfield were strengthened by the arrival of Cleife. His impact was immediate, running the Haslemere defence ragged, with their keeper making fine saves from Hulme, Pruden, White and Cleife in the first five minutes. Petersfield’s midfield engine room had returned to its dominant best, and was ably supported by the four man defence of Cornelius, Rowland, Williams and Budden. However, playing only two up-front gave them a lack of width and attempts on goal began to dry up. Just before half time, Petersfield finally went ahead when White slammed in the rebound after Cleife’s shot was saved.

In the second half, Petersfield took the risk of reducing defensive cover to give them more power up front. It transformed their game, putting Haslemere permanently on the back foot. In quick succession, Petersfield scored two delightful goals finishing off fine passing moves. First, Parker had a simple, close-range finish at the far post to convert an intricate penalty corner routine; White then tapped the ball home from Pruden’s unselfish pass after a scintillating attack built from their own 23. Petersfield scored their fourth when Cleife’s precise aerial was brought down by Pruden, who transferred it onto the reverse stick and speared the ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the D. For the final ten minutes of the game, Petersfield made a number of substitutions giving Haslemere the edge, and it took a string of fine saves from Broadmeadow to prevent the gap being narrowed. However, Haslemere scored a consolation goal in the last play of the game, converting a penalty corner from close range to make it 4-1.