Drove out to Stockbridge with Andy to see if we could find the ground and take in a couple of the local pubs on the way.
After a brief sojourn in the garden of Andy's first choice of pub we drove to the end of the road and found our directions were fine. A small crowd were in the ground and after paying the gatekeeper we parked up by the touchline in time to see the managers ambling on to the pitch with mugs of coffee in their hands - somewhat lowkey compared to the commentary of the Liverpool v Chelsea game in the car!
The first half was fairly quiet, after 15 minutes both teams had had chances to score but the quality of shooting was getting worse. The man on the ladder retrieving balls kicked over the hedge at the far side was kept busy by the home team but they managed to take the lead on the 23rd minute from a free kick that was given for handball.The cross came in from the left and a header came down from the corner of the bar and in.
Both teams were now creating some better chances and Petersfield came close to equalising on the 30th minute when their striker dribbled past two players and got a shot in that was cleared off the line.
I joined Andy in the car for halftime - he had decided to take the 'Viccy Park' option and stay in the car to watch the game while listening to the radio.
The second half was one of the most bizarre 45 minutes I think I've ever seen. It started with a bad backpass from Petersfield defender setting up a Stockbridge striker - his careful chip of the Petersfield goalkeeper almost came off but the ball bounced just over the bar. Petersfield's best chance saw a long dribbling run from the back almost pay off, a break down the left wing and a precision shot just wide of the right post. Both teams were unable to breakdown the opposition to create a clear chance but Petersfield were making a better show in the first 15 minutes than they had in the first half.
On 67 minutes, Stockbridge came close again. This time they beat the offside trap but instead of shooting the striker paused and passed the ball back to a teammate who put his shot well wide - lacking control and composure. Three minutes later it was the Petersfield keeper who lacked composure - coming out of the box he missed the ball which allowed a Stockbridge substitute time to run through on an open goal to score.
Stockbridge took control of the game and made it 3.0 in the 79th minute when they broke the offside trap again - a cross from the right found it's target in the middle and the striker had a simple pass into the net. A fourth almost came a minute later when the Petersfield keeper made a good save but that was to be his last positive contribution for his side.
A minute later, the ball went for a throw in about halfway in the Petersfield half. The decision to give the throw to Stockbridge seemed to enrage the Petersfield keeper who had an argument with the assistant referee on the near side. Both the keeper and the assistant referee swore at each other before the referee got involved and sent off the keeper. He was then surrounded by some of the Petersfield team and one of the defenders was sent off - his fault for continuing to argue even when the referee was telling him that he would get a card if he continued to argue. Two red cards in a minute for a throwin 60 yards from goal - unbelievable! Neither Andy or I could believe what we'd seen - especially the behaviour of the assistant referee who caused the problem by getting mouthy with the players, very poor in my opinion.
Petersfield rearranged their line up as they couldn't bring on a goalkeeping sub with all the subs used. Stockbridge scored a 4th on 85 minutes when their substitute had time to run into the box unopposed and place a shot past the keeper. A minute later and it was 5.0 - a chip over the keeper - and on 87 minutes it was 6.0 - the keeper was put under pressure with the ball and his pass to a team mate was intercepted and the striker placed it into the net.
I honestly thought that we would be on for double figures at this rate - at least 10 minutes were left to play with the time that had been spent with players arguing but sadly for the goal average, the referee blew up early. After the final whistle, the brother of the second Petersfield player to be sent off was also sent off for arguing.
We went back to the nearest pub over the road to try and take this all in and found ourselves joined by the Stockbridge players shortly afterwards (the Petersfield players unsurprisingly decided not to join them for some post match food).
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