LAVERSTOCK and Ford opened their Wessex League Division One campaign with a 2-2 draw after a ding dong battle with Petersfield.

The visitors came into the game with an impressive 100 per cent pre season campaign under their belt and they were certainly the more confident of the sides in the opening few minutes not allowing Laverstock to get the ball down and play their football.

However on 13 minutes it was the home side who took the lead albeit with a touch of fortune, a Graham Mankin long ball was inadvertently headed into his own net by the Petersfield centre back.

From then on Lavvy's Russ Jones caused problems but was guilty of missing two good chances.

At the other end, the returning Tom Roberts was in defiant mood, making two good blocks and commanding everything in his box.

On the stroke of half time Lavvy doubled their lead, Jones pounced on a mistake and teed up Chae Sykes to slot home from distance.

The second half saw the visitors come out looking for a lifeline but despite their intent Lavvy stood firm and defended well.

However they were given a glimmer of hope on 60, a tangle of legs in the box resulted in a penalty to Petersfield and they made no mistake from the spot.

As the time ticked on the pressure was beginning to mount on the home defence.

On 89 minutes, a deep cross eluded all Lavvy defenders and Jordan Neal was on hand to head in the leveller.

There was still time for more chances, Graham Mankin put a free header over the bar and Roberts twice denied the on rushing striker with two more great blocks to keep the scores level.

In the end Lavvy will be disappointed not to have capitalised on their 2-0 lead, but Petersfield showed what a dangerous side they are and refused to lie down. In the end 2-2 perhaps looks like a fair result.

Manager Liam McConnell said: "Right now it feels deflating. all the lads are disappointed with how we were second best in that second half.

"You always want to get off to a flyer and that was the intention, I felt we were playing in a confident mood in that first half and we looked dangerous and should have scored two or three more!

He added: "The second half, they came at us and made us lose control of the game. It’s disappointing as we have talked and worked on how to be better in such circumstances.

"We showed a resilience to weather the storm in that opening 15 minutes period but the penalty came at the wrong time, as soon as that went in it visually lifted them.

"An 89th minute leveller is always hard to take but we will build on the point gained."

This Saturday, Laverstock are away at New Milton, then on Tuesday they are at home to Pewsey Vale.