A short away trip to Petersfield was on the cards for Havant this week after another dominant but low scoring display the week prior against a resolute Salisbury side. Petersfield would be looking to cause another upset after achieving big wins against Chichester and Trojans in previous weeks gone by.

As ever Havant started on the front foot with the forwards pressing the Petersfield defence relentlessly causing multiple turnovers early on. However, the home side took a shock lead with 15 minutes on the clock after a quick Sixteen led to a Petersfield overload on the left hand side. Petersfield’s forward managed to get in the D and roof it on his reverse, 1-0 Petersfield.

An unexpected set-back but the mentality stayed the same despite the scoreline. Expert transferring from the back four coupled with excellent midfield and forward play in and around the D led to a late first half flurry of short corners. After an off-week last Saturday, Jonathon Pickett stepped up and ferociously dispatched a powerful drag flick past the Petersfield keeper, with Pickett repeating this a couple minutes later. Half-time score, 2-1 Havant.

The boys had an excellent chance to start the first half with Sam Horsman finding himself on the baseline flashing across a fantastic ball evading the Petersfield keeper but also the Havant forwards. The quick transfer from centre backs Jonathon Pickett and Tim Canning left half backs Dan Roberts and Tristan Farrer space to hit the line multiple times giving forwards Pat Brown, Oli Street, Freddie hares and Theo Gardner space to exploit the overload and win a few more short corners. Like clockwork JP stepped up again and viciously slammed home another drag flick leaving the boys 3-1 up with 10 mins to go in the second half.

Excellent patient build up play from midfielders Raj Laly and Sam Watson paired with outrageous stick skills from Liam and Lucas Matthew’s led to a measured final 10 minutes of controlled possession with the lads finding time to win one more short corners. Jonathon Pickett capped off his man of the match performance slamming home another short corner to ensure the result wouldn’t be in doubt before the final whistle blew.

Full-time 4-1 Havant, what could’ve been a potential banana skin game to a tricky Petersfield side, turned out to be another strong performance away from home to build momentum before the league defining match with 2nd place Chichester awaiting next week.

We’d also like to thank goalkeeper Finn Lacey who played his final game for the 2’s this week and will be departing to play higher level hockey at Fareham. Finn has been a mainstay in the side pulling up fantastic saves at key moments and we have no doubt he’ll be a massive asset to Fareham as he takes the next step in his hockey journey. Good luck Finn!