Winchester Veterans 1 Petersfield Veterans 3: A TOTALLY dominant, but very poor, performance saw Petersfield Veterans stay at the top of the Wessex Masters League.

White and Hulme pressed from midfield for Petersfield from the whistle and there were numerous chances in the first ten minutes – Parker and Pruden most culpable for glaring misses. The bouncy pitch did not help Petersfield’s endeavours and rather than use the width provided by Wilson and Dryden-Brownlee on the wings they continued to crash speculative balls into the D. When good opportunities did present themselves – most notably to Pruden, Dryden-Browlee and Parker – the Winchester keeper made a series of fine saves.

Eventually, Petersfield put a fine passing move together from the left and White provided a fine finish from close range into the roof of the net. This was followed by Wilson making a good tackle on the edge of the Winchester D, which Pruden pounced on before passing to Parker, who finished well to double the lead. The away team continued to press for the remainder of the half with most of the possession, but failed to attack with any intelligence and added no further goals.

In the second half, Winchester looked to both stifle the game and open up Petersfield to the quick break by playing an 8-2 formation. Cornelius, Rowland and Phillips passed the marking of the two Winchester forwards well between them, allowing the spare defender to maraud forward. The impetus provided by Rowland running from the back, in particular, together with Dryden-Brownlee’s supply from the right wing, continued to provide opportunities for the Petersfield forwards. Parker earned a penalty flick when his shot was saved on the line, but Pruden’s effort was well saved. Eventually, Parker’s fancy footwork allowed him to score Petersfield’s third goal, at the second attempt.

With ten minutes to go, Winchester were awarded a penalty corner, which they converted. The remainder of the game was played out with little excitement at either end. At the final whistle, Petersfield were well worth a win that flattered Winchester. However, they will have to play far better in the crunch top-of-the-table clash against Chichester next week if they are to stay at the top of the league.