Rams hit seven to see off Portsmouth Water

PETERSFIELD made sure they avoided a major upset in the Portsmouth Senior Cup by romping to an emphatic 7-2 victory against Portsmouth Water Company at Love Lane.
John RobsonJohn Robson
John Robson

In the opening stages of the game the Rams’ poor league form threatened to carry over into this cup tie.

But in the end their Southern League status was too much for the Portsmouth Saturday League visitors as they reached the quarter-finals.

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Adam Cripps netted a hat-trick on the night for John Robson’s side as he took the match ball.

Olly Sturt netted twice and further goals from Matt Corsaro and Preston Tee completed the tally.

But it was the visitors who took a shock early lead as Petersfield struggled to get going.

Rams keeper Tom Best miscued his clearance and then the ball ran free inside the penalty area.

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James Johnson ran after it before turning it into the empty net.

The Rams got back on level terms on 18 minutes.

Sturt flicked his header home from close range.

He then doubled his tally on 38 minutes to give Petersfield the lead.

The referee allowed an advantage and the ball rolled into his path.

He then tucked his shot away under the keeper from 15 yards out.

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It was 3-1 three minutes later as Petersfield tightened their grip on the contest.

The ball was played forward quickly and eventually it found Corsaro inside the penalty area.

He made no mistake as he slammed his shot home from 15 yards out.

The visitors struck back again three minutes before half-time.

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Liam Horsted fired home a free-kick from the edge of the box via a big deflection off the defensive wall and Best could only watch it roll into the net.

However, Petersfield increased their lead three minutes after the restart.

Cripps got underneath the ball and when it dropped he hit his shot into the net.

It was 5-2 two minutes later, when Tee’s persistence paid off.

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He managed to charge the ball down inside the box and then shoot home.

Cripps found space to make it six.

He turned and smashed the loose ball into the top corner of the net.

Petersfield completed the scoring with nine minutes remaining.

Cripps curled his free-kick straight into the net to complete his hat-trick.

– GRAEME MOIR