Honours even at Love Lane

Petersfield Town 2 v Sturminster Newton 2
Sturminster grabbed their first points on the road with an entertaining draw against a rejuvenated Petersfield side, buoyed by their new management team.
Sturminster started brightly with George Adair Charlton causing problems with his intelligent runs, breaking the defensive lines. One such run ended with a great chance for Jensen Doer, but his connection was poor and the chance went begging. Sturminster didn’t have to wait long for another chance to take the lead, Will Guppy reacted quicker to a loose ball in the area and was caught by the defender. George Coleman stepped up but blasted the penalty kick over the bar.
This gave the home side momentum, which they capitalised on as Iggy Cake broke, cut inside Nick Hewlett and rifled the ball past Theo Crane to grab the advantage. Petersfield doubled their lead just before the break as a defensive mix up left Alfie Stringer free to roll the ball into the unmanned goal.
Two changes and a formation tweak at half time immediately paid dividends as Sturminster pulled a goal back. Will Guppy bending a free kick away from the goalkeepers despairing dive into the corner of the net.
Smelling blood, Sturminster continued to attack, debutant Lucas Davies shooting narrowly wide, however it was George Coleman, atoning for his penalty miss, who found space on the right hand side of the box, his whipped shot taking a deflection and nestling in the net.
Far from petering out, the final ten minutes held opportunities for both sides to snatch the win. Theo Crane clawed a shot away and Aaron Lane-Leney was just unable to squeeze his headed opportunity into the goal with the final chance of the afternoon.
Given the circumstances of the game both teams would have been happy to share the points.

Player of the Match – Will Guppy