Haslemere Masters 1 Petersfield Veterans 6: AFTER warming up with a fine victory against the British Army vets on Thursday, Petersfield put Haslemere to the sword in a stunning second-half performance.

Although Petersfield took a first-half lead through Thompson’s mazy run from halfway finished off with a thunderbolt from the top of the D, they were well below par for most of the first half. The Haslemere defence and midfield pressed the away side, causing Petersfield to make countless errors which broke up the attacks and left them vulnerable at the back. However, the imperious defending of Rowland and Thompson snuffed out most of Haslemere’s forays forward, with Broadmeadow coming fast off his line to make a save the one time the defensive line was broken. With 25 minutes gone, Haslemere were awarded a penalty corner. Rowland blocked the first shot, but the ball fell kindly to the Haslemere striker who rifled the ball in off Thompson’s hand – also ending his game. Petersfield continued to stutter and were relieved to hear the half-time whistle go with the scores level.

The second half saw a totally different performance. A more attacking formation gave them width and the whole team upped their game. Liddle and Williams provided the grunt in Petersfield’s engine room, allowing Hulme, Cleife, Parker, Pruden, Budden and Cornett to express themselves. Wave after wave of attack cut through the Haslemere defence. First, Budden picked the ball up from Cornett’s good work and accurate pass from the right, neatly passing it into the back of the net. Next, Dryden-Brownlee adeptly finished off Cleife’s deflected shot from a penalty corner. Their fourth was probably the pick of the goals with Hulme slamming the ball into the bottom corner after exquisite interplay between Budden, Liddle and Cleife. Cleife added the fifth himself, when he picked up the ball on the 22, advanced into the D and hit an unstoppable shot high into the net. Pruden completed the scoring with a trademark run from right to left across the top of the D, followed by a reverse stick shot into the bottom corner. When the final whistle went, Petersfield were well worth the victory and look forward to next week’s first round of the HA Trophy.