Havant Ladies IIIa 2 Petersfield Ladies 1: PETERSFIELD Ladies fell to a narrow defeat away at league leaders Havant.

The visitors were looking for revenge after losing 1-0 at home to Havant in the reverse league fixture earlier this season.

The first half was played mostly in the Petersfield half of the pitch, and some well distributed balls by Havant forced the visitors to sit deep and defend.

When Petersfield had the opportunity to attack they struggled to link the play and break through the Havant midfield, and when they did it was often to an isolated forward.

After defending eight short corners in the half it wasn’t a surprise when Havant’s persistence resulted in a goal before the break.

Petersfield regrouped at half time and improved dramatically in the second half.

The visitors produced a flurry of short, sharp, direct passes, and Anna O’Kelly found herself past the last defender and one-on-one with the Havant keeper.

She drew the keeper out and placed the ball between her legs to level the scores.

Petersfield continued to press and the second half was a lot more even than the first had been.

The visitors created a number of chances to take the lead but were unable to take them.

The sucker punch arrived late on when a well-placed Havant midfielder managed to lose her marker in the D and score a simple goal to put the hosts back in the lead.

Havant then saw the game out to earn a 2-1 win.