It had been a sunny weekend but I left Salisbury shrouded in grey cloud and by the time I got to Winchester there were swirls of fog covering the road. Fortunately for me, the sun came out by the time I reached Petersfield.
Looking through the programme waiting for Alan, I noticed that both teams had won their Saturday game 4.1 but were struggling at the bottom of the league. The warm weather and early start brought out a fair crowd to the game but not as many as Alan expected to see. As the game kicked off, we had a chat to a genial gentleman who mentioned that he was going to take his seat in the president's box - it turned out that he was Jim Sloan, a former director at Fratton Park.
The first half was fairly evenly matched. Petersfield started brightly and had a shot that came back off the crossbar while Liss put a shot wide of the keeper but wide of the post shortly afterwards. Neither team seemed to be making much headway in the first half hour but Liss gradually started to have more of the game. However it was Petersfield who scored first on 35 minutes, a ball was played into the penalty area and their striker span and slotted the ball past the keeper from 10 yards out. 5 minutes later and Liss were back in the game with the best goal of the morning - a 30 yard shot that chipped the keeper and flew into the back of the net. A well taken goal that the Liss players took great pleasure in celebrating in front of a local photographer. A couple of minutes later they had another great chance but couldn't go in front before halftime.
After a quick trip to the bar for soft drinks, we returned to our spot in the shade for the 2nd half. Alan noted that Liss must have had a rocket up their arse in the halftime team talk and it was no surprise that they took the lead on 50 minutes. Petersfield gave the ball away and a Liss striker slotted the ball in. For the next 20 minutes, Liss dominated with plenty of pressure and several corners but couldn't create any end product. Petersfield found it hard to get the ball to their strikers and the Liss keeper had little to do. Even the referee seemed to have it in for Petersfield, accidently standing on one of their players hands when he went down injured.
On 75 minutes the Liss pressure finally told. A cross came in from the right and flew right across the penalty area, allowing a Liss player to tap the ball in unchallenged past the keeper at the far post. A soft goal to concede but one that was replicated 5 minutes later by the same striker, this time a tap in from 3 yards out in the centre of the goal.
The referee then helped Petersfield out. After giving Liss a freekick on the halfway line in the 90th minute, he penalised their player for handball after he touched the ball when trying to place it on the ground. Apparently the referee felt that the ball had been in play at that point. The free kick was given the other way and Petersfield earnt a corner from which they almost scored. When the ball came across, no-one was able to poke it in but a Petersfield striker managed to cross it back into the centre. It looked like they would get a late consolation with their best chance of the half, but the ball was headed over from short range and with that the referee blew the final whistle.
An entertaining game with no bookings for either side. I said my farewells to Alan, then started the drive over to Verwood Town for a 3pm start.
No comments:
Post a Comment