Sydenhams Wessex Lge - Div 2. Petersfield Tn 0, Bishop's Waltham Tn 1

WALTHAM did their chances of avoiding relegation a power of good on Tuesday night with an excellent victory courtesy of a Paul Clark second-half strike.

On a bumpy, sloping surface it often seemed in the first half as if all 22 players were playing against the pitch - and the pitch won!

The game desperately needed a goal, and one arrived on 50 minutes. A stoppage following an injury to Lee Bailey seemed to affect Petersfield's concentration, and from the restart Luke Musselwhite surged on to a through ball down the middle. Michael O'Mahony beat down his shot, but Clark gleefully accepted the rebound.

The game settled into a pattern after that, the hosts gradually stepping up the pace while the Bishops looked dangerous on the break.

Waltham even had the ball in the net a second time when Glen Lickman flicked the ball over O'Mahony from a good run by sub Neil Channon, but he was narrowly offside.

Most of the action was in the visitors' goalmouth, but with Lickman the leading light among impressive defenders Allen Miles, Jamie Buckley and Jamie Robinson Waltham held out for a win that increased their lead over the bottom two to four points - until Wednesday, when Fawley beat Alresford!