PETERSFIELD's Town's six-game unbeaten run was brought to a crashing end on Saturday by league leaders Winchester City.

Any hope of an upset was quickly dispelled in the first 10 minutes by the formidable Winchester outfit who have dominated the Hampshire Premier League this season.

It took them just four minutes to draw first blood and they struck again in the seventh minute.

And at 4-0 after 30 minutes, Town must have been fearing the worst against a side who have already inflicted two 10-0 drubbings against league sides this season.

But all credit to Petersfield who stuck to their task and kept the visitors at bay until midway through the second half, when Winchester converted a penalty.

City went on to cap a dominant display by adding a sixth 10 minutes from time.

Winchester's arch destroyer was Ian Mancey, the former Basingstoke and Fleet Town striker, who scored a hat-trick. However, Mancey is due to start a 112-day ban handed out by the Hampshire FA after a head-butting incident in an earlier FA Vase match.

The defeat, at the hands of a Winchester team who reached the last eight of the FA Vase and have lost just one league match all season, came as no surprise.

But Petersfield would have hoped to put on a better display in front of a fair-sized Love Lane crowd, bolstered by the supporters who had made the journey from Winchester.

Petersfield had the chance to bounce straight back when they took on Portsmouth RN on Wednesday night, as The Herald was going to press.

COMBINATION

Netley Res 1, Petersfield Town Res 3. Petersfield gave themselves an outside chance of promotion on Saturday with a confident victory away to Netley.

And manager Richard Archbald vowed that his side would fight on to the end of the season after putting recent hiccups behind them.

Petersfield started poorly on Saturday and survived an early penalty scare when Netley failed to convert from the spot.

But that seemed like ancient history on 35 minutes when Dave Jackson put Town in front with a scorching left-foot half volley.

Archbald had made a few changes from the side that lost against Awbridge last week. Goalkeeper Mark Saunders returned from a knee injury to replace suspended Scott Miller and kept Town in front with two brilliant saves.

But Petersfield lost their way at the beginning of the second half and gifted Netley a lifeline after a defensive error.

However, Archbald was happy with his side's response under pressure and they soon regained the lead.

Barry Parker capped a powerful run with an excellent finish and then latched on to a through-ball from Adam Fawcett five minutes later to make the game safe.

Afterwards Archbald said he still had one eye on promotion. "If we win our last six games we might have a chance if other teams slip up," he said. "We are not giving up hope and there are a few six-pointers to come."