EGHAM TN 4, PETERSFIELD TN 1

PLAY-OFF contenders Egham Town avenged their 1-0 defeat at Love Lane back in October with a heavy defeat of in-form Petersfield.

The Rams’ impressive run had put them second in the Southern League Div I Central form table, while Egham had suffered four straight defeats. A fifth seemed on the cards when Petersfield took an early lead, but the Sarnies dug deep and a late flurry of goals, including a penalty, killed off the visitors.

On 16 minutes, the Rams took the lead from their first chance. Egham defended a corner poorly and Lewis Hyde moved in undetected to head inside the near post.

Andy Todd then nearly took advantage of some nervous passing between home keeper Jamie Norris and skipper Luke Neville, but soon the home side fought their way back into the game and Neville’s looping header landed on top of the goal.

Todd had an on-target shot blocked at the other end, but the pressure was telling on Petersfield, who were playing a number of youngsters, and, five minutes from the interval, Egham scored a timely equaliser.

Chris Henry’s defence-splitting pass found new signing Chris Moore free to steer the ball home – apparently with his stomach.

Egham gathered impetus in the second half and went close several times before deservedly taking the lead. A cross from Ryan Parsons was knocked on by Moore and substitute Goldy Capela rose to head in off the underside of the crossbar.

Things got even better for Egham on 74 minutes when Henry was upended inside the box and Pashaj converted clinically from the spot.

Finally, Pashaj took Wes Daly’s long ball in his stride and played the perfect pass for Capela to rifle his shot into the bottom corner.

The Wednesday before, Petersfield had chalked up their 12th home win of the season, beating Hanwell Town 2-0 with goals from Howard Neighbour (27m) and Jamie Ford (74m).

Barton Rovers 2, Petersfield 2. Petersfield returned from their long trip to Bedfordshire on Tuesday with a handy point, but were disappointed to twice concede the lead.

Joe Briggs put the Rams ahead after only nine minutes. James Bishop equalised for the home side before half-time, but Joe Richardson’s strike restored the lead with 20 minutes remaining. Alex O’Brien levelled the scores within three minutes and the sides settled for the draw.