Alton Veterans 2 Petersfield Veterans 5: UNLIKE the past three years, a reasonable performance in their first game of the season saw Petersfield Veterans maintain their interest in the cup.

Petersfield dominated from the start with Hulme and Liddle bursting through from midfield to supply the rampant Pruden with good ball. It took a string of fine saves from the Alton keeper to keep Pruden out. Eventually, Hulme took matters into his own hands, picking the ball up from the halfway line, scything through the Alton defence and dispatching the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the D. Petersfield’s second had some luck attached to it, with Cornett’s miss-hit penalty corner evading attackers and defence alike, eventually bobbling over the goal line.

Alton’s occasional forays into the Petersfield 22 were calmly handled by the defensive trio of Cornelius, Phillips and MacIntyre, ably supported by Budden and Liddle from midfield. Liddle scored Petersfield’s third and best goal; Cornett’s accurate pass found Parker, who pulled the ball back for Liddle to thump home. Just before the break, Alton drew one back when Broadmeadow misread the slow pace of the pitch, watching helplessly as the Alton striker picked the ball up just before it entered the D, allowing him to round the stranded keeper and score unchallenged.

For the first ten minutes of the second half, Petersfield appeared to have forgotten the basics of hockey and were unable to pass, mark or even hit the ball cleanly. They were lucky to concede only one goal during this period – a well-worked penalty corner. During this period, Pruden was the first Petersfield player to experience the new two-minute green card suspension, for going through an Alton defender.

Petersfield regained some of their fluidity, with scoring opportunities presenting themselves on a regular basis. Pruden put another couple of chances wide, before Parker and Budden put the finishing touch to good approach play from Bilsland and Liddle. Dryden-Brownlee thought that he had added a sixth with a feint touch on Hulme’s precise through ball, but the goal was ruled out. The last five minutes was not a good advert for the game with both sides tiring and making basic errors, leaving the final score at 5-2.