Changes pay off as subs sink Petersfield

Ringwood Town 3, Petersfield 0

THREE second-half goals brought victory for Ringwood in the opening match of the new season.

After a scrappy first-half and first 10 minutes of the second period, Ringwood made changes, with Howes and Bladen introduced for Hetherington and Brown. The changes made an immediate impact.

Firstly a Clark corner was scrambled to safety on 66 minutes and then, on 70 minutes, came the breakthrough. Danny Taylor, previously quiet, went on a characteristically mazy run and drew a poor challenge from the Petersfield skipper which led to a penalty. Howes stepped up and smashed the ball in off the underside of the bar.

Two minutes later Howes could have had a second as the two substitutes combined but the midfielder shot over the bar.

The second goal wasn't long in coming, though. On 78 minutes substitute Pete Old threaded a cross-field ball to Taylor, whose first-time pass was back across the goal and Bladen was on hand to tap in from two yards.

Both Morrell and Old could have added to the score in the next five minutes when similar chances at the back post went begging. As the game drew towards a close, Fleet had two further chances but failed to convert and it was left to Bladen to score his second of the game with a clinical finish from 15 yards two minutes into injury time.

● Ringwood Town Reserves beat Brockenhurst Reserves 3-0 with goals from Chris Payne, Nick Russon and Phil Midson.