PETERSFIELD had a notable win over London Irish Amateur in their sights at Penns Place on Saturday, but a serious injury dashed the cup of glory from their grasp.

With 'Field holding a narrow lead early in the second half, centre Les Barfield broke his ankle and, after the ensuing delay while an ambulance was called, the home team were never again the same force.

In front of a large and knowledgeable crowd, Petersfield pushed London Irish all the way, but could not avoid a second defeat of the season at the hands of the famous exile club.

'Field had fought their way into the game after an early McGarty try had warned them that they could not afford to give Irish a sniff of an opening.

Neil Arnold finished off an excellent run by skipper Derek Eldridge and with Dave Wheeler adding the conversion, Petersfield delighted their supporters by taking the lead.

But Irish continued to press and only some sterling defensive work by Rogers and Wheeler prevented the visitors scoring.

The game flowed and referee Mark Croker deserved credit for allowing every advantage.

Petersfield turned round two points up, but after the restart were immediately thrown into some disorder by an injury to young hooker Ed Ridley.

Finally convinced to leave the pitch, a concussed Ridley was replaced by Poulter, with, Cuthbertson moving to hooker.

Minutes later and Irish had regained the lead with a well-struck penalty and 'Field were being stretched again. However, as the visitors attempted to run the ball from deep, Matt Rogers charged down an attempted clearance, snapped up the pill and ran in to score behind a disbelieving London Irish pack.

With the game becoming more robust, Irish seized the advantage and rumbled upfield. Driving ever closer, they discovered Petersfield's inherent weakness – defence against the driving maul.

As the Irish pack pushed for the try, Barfield, charging in to clear the ball, tripped and badly broke his ankle.

After 10 minutes, the game was moved to an adjacent pitch. It was 40 minutes before the ambulance arrived.

Losing the second toss, the home side found themselves again defending the sun and slope. Irish seized the initiative and although 'Field were able to bring on a county standard replacement in Ben Martin, their backs did not adjust quickly enough.

If there was a suggestion of a forward pass in the first of the two scores, it was still a fine effort by Roswell.

Petersfield, in some desperation, kicked the ball straight down No 8 Penny's throat. The big man ran 40 metres before being stopped and slipped the ball to his winger who rounded the stuttering home defence to extend the lead to 27-12 with minutes to go.

This stung Petersfield into a late assault and they shook Irish with almost a foot rush up the right wing. Rogers claimed his second try and Wheeler kicked the conversion to narrow the deficit to eight points.

It had come too late, but, all things considered, it was a great rugby day at Penns Place and skipper Eldridge was not too downcast after the game.

"Basically, losing Ed Ridley and Les Barfield set us aback and we finished up playing into the sun again. But fair play to Irish, they got into their stride quicker and did what we would have done – put the ball in the corners and run hard."

He continued: "We have to win against those below us and strive to beat those above. We can do this and are on course for a mid-table place if we can keep our momentum."

Director of rugby Mike O'Shea added: "It was still anyone's game with 20 minutes left, but the awful injury to Les seemed to knock the stuffing out of us."

If Petersfield need any incentive to stay in London Four, it is to have clubs of the quality of London Irish returning to Penns Place year after year.