Haslemere's late season form continued on Saturday with victory over local rivals Petersfield for the third time this campaign.

However, Petersfield, unlucky with injuries, fought their way back from two goals down to make it 2-2 at half-time and Haslemere had to dig deep before coming up with the winner.

Haslemere dominated the first 10 minutes and took the lead at a short corner – a sweet strike from Simon Alliss.

Try as they might, Petersfield could not penetrate a solid home defence, well marshalled by birthday boy Nick Cracknell and Duncan Hadrell.

Haslemere skipper Chris Stokes made up for missing an earlier sitter by doubling the lead, this time stretching the net to its maximum with a blistering shot.

Petersfield had lost their own skipper, Trevor Hillman, to a nasty wrist injury – he was replaced by brother Steve who had also taken a knock – but launched a spirited fightback.

Nigel Faulkner's flick from a short corner rivalled the sharpness of Haslemere's opening goal and the match was squared up when Bill Ashworth left Dan Hollyman helpless after a lapse of concentration in the Blues' defence.

The second half was a less organised affair as Haslemere struggled to regain their early dominance.

It was 20 minutes before the tension was eased, Duncan Berry scoring from a tight angle to secure the points for Haslemere and end Petersfield's brave revival.