Petersfield Town bid to end losing run with Portsmouth Senior Cup upset at Baffins Milton Rovers

The Rams have followed a run of six straight wins with four successive losses - the latest a 2-0 FA Vase setback at Bridport.

Joint-bosses Joe Lea and Pat Suraci now take their squad to one tier higher Baffins Milton Rovers on Tuesday.

Petersfield stunned Horndean 2-1 at Five Heads Park in last season’s PSC semi-final, and a similar result at the PMC Stadium would be another big upset.

The Rams have suffered back-to-back 2-1 Wessex 1 defeats, to Folland and Hamworthy Recreation.

A much-changed side impressed in a 3-1 Hampshire Senior Cup loss to a strong Sholing XI, before what Lea described as a ‘very disappointing’ loss at Bridport at the weekend.

The Dorset club - relegated from step 5 last season and currently bottom of the South West Peninsula League’s East Division - were celebrating their first win in any competitive game since August of last year.

Lea told The News: ‘We’ve lost the last four but only two have been in the league, so it’s not the end of the world, though still not ideal.

‘We lost one of the league games in the last minute and the other one (v Hamworthy) after we’d dominated but got caught cold twice.

‘Against Sholing we made 10 changes, we had three 17-year-olds on the pitch. We were proud of the performance, it didn’t feel like a defeat.

‘When I hear managers say their team dominated a game and the other team scored from their only chances, I do cringe a bit … but that’s exactly what I’m going to say happened at Bridport!

‘They scored from a set piece and a long ball in the last minute when we had pushed bodies forward.

‘The stats might say we deserved to win, but we didn’t because we made mistakes - and I include myself and Pat in that.

‘We’ve been a bit naive in some games, but again that means me and Pat again.

‘We do have some young players and with that come obvious downfalls such as a lack of experience at times.

‘I’m not making excuses, though - we’ve chosen to go with these youngsters because we believe they suit the style we want to play.’

Regarding the trip to Baffins, Lea added: ‘We’re looking forward to it. It will be a different type of game, providing a different test.

‘We’ll probably have less of the ball than we would in a normal league game, and so we’ll need to adapt. We’re not just going there to turn up, we want to put on a good performance.

‘Next Saturday we have Amesbury away and that will be another different test. We’ll have to show a bit more aggression and maturity.’