Hartley Wintney smoothly cruised to victory in a highly accomplished manner against Petersfield, who began the game top of the table in Wessex Div 1.

Hartley started off brightly and it was no surprise when Martin Williams found plenty of space in front of him and hit a beauty from 20 yards into the top corner.

Hartley continued to dominate and Jermaine Hamilton turned smartly in the penalty area and struck the ball low into the corner. It was only 2-0 at half-time with Hartley so dominant - but failing to make the most of their chances - that Lee Allen only had one save to make.

The second half continued in the same vein like the first, but the Hartley strikers were having one of those days when nothing went right for them and it seemed that however hard they tried they were not going to score, even if they played another 90 minutes! And so it was left to centre-half Darrel Bloxham when he rose above everyone to score with a powerful header from a corner. As he said afterwards, he could not remember the last time he scored!!

It was then a procession after that and Nick Kingston added a fourth with a touch of fortune when it bounced over the keeper. A brief lapse by the defence allowed Petersfield a consolation goal, but then the icing on the cake was when Andy Newcombe's swerving cross from 30 yards out went straight into the back of the net.

Two things stood out in this game:
Lee Allen will never make an outfield footballer... because when he tried to beat two players with his dainty footwork he lost the ball.
Man of the Match has to be Martin Williams as he controlled the midfield and, with his neat touches, he dominated proceedings with his class... and even on one occasion he smiled...

Make no mistake, Petersfield were not a bad side, they had one or two individuals who could play good football, but they did not ignite as a team in the way that Hartley did and who, in the end, totally outclassed them.

As a footnote, the club were at one time considering pulling out of the Combined Counties League - as they were taking more new teams into it from around South London and creating longer journeys - and moving to the Wessex League. I wonder where we would be now!!

In the next round we play Bournemouth Poppies FC away, who are in the Wessex Premier League. [NV]

TEAM: L Allen, L Pearson, A Newcombe, C Paterson (O Bridges), D Bloxham, J Coventry, M Williams, D Peltohaka, J Hamilton (N Kingston), R Stephens, B Dillon (D Brownlie)
Subs: D Tillson, J Tennant, N Kingston, D Brownlie, O Bridges.