Petersfield Town 3 - 2 Hythe & Dibden

"It was a game of two halves" is a well known cliche in football, and it certainly applied to the Rams match v Hythe & Dibden at Love Lane on Saturday when, after a very disappointing first half which saw the Rams trail 1-0, they completely turned the match around in the second half with a much improved display to deservedly run out 3-2 winners.

With several players missing through injury the Rams were forced to make a number of personnel and positional changes from their last competitive match v Andover New Street on 9th January. Liam Kimber returned after illness, with younger brother Callum making his first League start, and Jake Thomson was switched from defence to a forward role.

Asst Manager, Callum Glen was on the subs bench, his first involvement as a player since August, along with Callum Dart, who had not played for the Rame since pre-season.

The game started at a very lively tempo with both sides enjoying some promising attacks. Jake Thomson called Hythe keeper, Luke Deacon into action in the opening minutes, and Tommy Tierney went close. At the other end the Rams defence was tested with some lively forward play from Hythe, with Ellis Grant called into action on several occasions. As the half progressed the visitors were increasingly in the ascendency and it came as no great surprise when they took a 15th minute lead with an excellent finish from Cain Prentice.

Rocked by this, the Rams play became disjointed with too many hopeful long balls which were comfortably dealt with by Hythe. Towards half time the Rams made a change to their formation which seemed to stem the tide and they reached the break just the one goal down to stay in the game.

The second half saw a completely different Rams as they got on the front foot from the off and found their passing game. Chad Cornwell, on as a half time sub, made some penetrating runs down the right, and put some dangerous balls into the box. On the other side of the pitch Callum Kimber was making a valuable contribution with his close control and vision impressing. It looked like it was only a matter of time before the Rams would make a breakthrough and  even more so after further substitutions were made, with Callum Dart coming on in the 54th minute, followed five minutes later by Callum Glen and Dec Seiden.

The equaliser soon came when in the 63rd minute a ball in from the right was met with a superb strike from Callum Dart. Cheered on by another excellent Love Lane crowd of 212, the Rams were now in top gear and took the lead in the 72nd minute with a great move down the left, which was finished off in emphatic style with another fine strike from Callum Dart. When Jake Thomson calmly slotted home in the 83rd minute to put the Rams 2-1 ahead, the points looked secure, but an added time goal from Ryan Harfield ensured a tense end to proceedings, but the Rams saw out the remaining time to deservedly take three points and move up to 12th in the table, with 25 points from 22 games.