Petersfield Town manager Connor Hoare admitted his side need to manage their emotions better after losing 4-1 at high-flying Shaftesbury in the Wessex League Premier Division last Tuesday night (October 31).

Despite Dec Seiden’s sixth goal in as many games Shaftesbury came from behind to win with four goals on a wet evening in Dorset.

A sin bin apiece for Tommy Tierney and Seiden helped Shaftesbury utilise their quality to complete the turnaround.

Despite early warning signs from the hosts, Petersfield played some good football and caused Shaftesbury problems.

Seiden’s confidence in front of goal shone through when he put the visitors ahead in the 23rd minute. Oli Davies broke away and slotted Seiden in with a quality through ball. Seiden made no mistake inside the box, cutting back and slotting into the bottom corner.

The hosts had former AFC Bournemouth and Portsmouth striker Brett Pitman in their ranks, but the visitors kept him relatively quiet. Despite that Pitman grabbed the assist for the equaliser on 27 minutes when he set Callum Sweeney away and Sweeney slotted into the bottom corner from outside the box.

Pitman then had a half chance for the home side with a volley at the back post.

Shaftesbury upped the pressure in the second half, but solid performances from Jack Farrier and Tyler Burns kept the home side at bay.

The game changed in the 51st minute when Tierney was sin binned after emotions had taken over, and only four minutes later the home side took the lead through Cam Beard.

A cross from the second phase of a corner found Beard lurking at the back post, and he produced a confident finish.

Steve Devlin then made it 3-1 when his free kick deflected off Charlie Bell and snuck in at the near post.

Seiden was then sent to the dug out to the sin bin for dissent.

Greg Peel completed the scoring when he headed home past Rams keeper Jay Morris and into the bottom corner.

“Football is an emotional game but we need to manage our emotions better,” said Hoare.

“We’ve conceded three goals when we’ve been down to ten men because we’ve had a player in the sin bin – when it was 11 against 11 we’ve only conceded one goal against a good Shaftesbury side that is full of quality.”

Petersfield’s game at home to Fareham Town last Saturday (November 4) was postponed after heavy rain last Friday night (November 3). The Rams will travel to Laverstock & Ford in the Wessex League Premier Division today (Saturday). The match kicks-off at 3pm.