Petersfield Town remain second in the Wessex Premier on goal difference following a comfortable 2-0 win at struggling Bemerton Heath Harlequins last Saturday.

Their eighth win in nine league games was earned through goals by Charlie Merritt and Asad Ssemwogerere on a windy afternoon on the outskirts of Salisbury.

Just after the half-hour mark Merritt whipped a corner into the wind and it bent beautifully into the net off the back post.

Ssemwogerere grabbed the second on the break deep into stoppage time, cutting back and wrapping his shot into the bottom corner at the near post.

Petersfield Town manager Connor Hoare said: “It was a decent match and a tough fight in difficult conditions.

“The wind was ridiculous. It was all towards one goal and we scored directly from a corner. The wind took the ball straight into the top corner, so it worked for us in the end.

“Then we scored from our throw-in in our half. We threw the ball down the line and somehow found ourselves in on goal.

“We had a lot of chances and I thought we were really wasteful. The quality was poor and the decision-making was poor.

“That second goal relieved a lot of pressure. It was in the 100th minute so there was no chance of them coming back and getting an equaliser.”

Petersfield’s Wessex League Cup hopes ended in a 1-0 defeat at Laverstock & Ford on September 30, Chae Sykes scoring in the 24th minute.

They hosted struggling New Milton Town as the Herald went to press on Tuesday night, and travel to mid-table Millbrook on Saturday.

Hoare said: “New Milton lost 7-1 at Baffins in their last match but I imagine they’ll tighten up against us. And Millbrook are notoriously difficult to play against, so it’ll be tough to get two wins from those two games.”