The opening game of the season saw Ringwood field a strong squad against a side who have continually been in the top 6 of Division One. Only Leadbetter (suspension), Taylor (injury) and Ormond (holiday) were unavailable. Both Dan Marks and Stuart Brown made their competitive debuts for the New Forest side.

The game nearly burst to life within the first 5 minutes when veteran, Carl Fleet, was put through one on one with the Petersfield keeper. However his shot was tame and straight at his opponent as the first chance went begging. Ringwood continued to have the better of the opening exchanges. A Brown cross on 20 minutes saw Taylor head over and the frustrated midfielder was booked moments later for a nasty challenge that could easily have seen red. One the half hour some determined work by Hetherington stopped Petersfield from clearing their lines and the ball broke forward for Fleet. However his shot was deflected behind for a corner. The resulting set-piece provided Ringwood with their best chance of the half as Clark delivered deep to the back post. Burnett kept the ball alive and headed back across goal but Brown mis-timed his leap and could only head the ball over the bar. Moments later Fleet was again on the verge of scoring after the ball broke forward following a Petersfield attack. However his shot across the keeper was well saved and Brown couldn't connect with the follow-up.

The last 10 minutes of the half belonged to Petersfield as the Ringwood defence began to lose some composure with Marks having been booked for a silly handball. On 42 minutes Petersfield came closest to opening the scoring. Having outplayed Ringwood on the edge of their area the visitors carved out a careful opening on the right. The cross was deep and was met well at the back post, however the header rattled the upright and fell safely behind. Just before the half-time whistle a similar move saw Petersfield again create a cross from the right. This time the ball was poorly cleared by the home side but the volley from the edge of the area went well over.

Half-time:0-0

The first 10 minutes of the second period was not much better for Ringwood. Yeats was guilty of an early poor challenge which gifted Petersfield a free-kick on the edge of the area. However the shot was well over the top. The management recognised changes were needed and both Howes and Bladen were 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, so quiet until this point, went on a characteristically mazy run and forced a poor challenge from the Petersfield skipper which led to a penalty. Howes stepped up and smashed the ball onto the underside of the bar and in. Two minutes later Howes could have had a second as the two substitutes combined but for the midfielder to sky the shot over the bar.

The second wasn't long in coming though. On 78 minutes substitute, Pete Old's, touch was golden, threading a cross-field ball to Taylor. His first time pass was back across the goal and Bladen was on hand to tap in from 2 yards. Both Morrell and Old could have added to the score in the next 5 minutes when similar chances at the back post went begging. As the game drew to a close, Fleet had two further chances but failed to convert either and it was left to Bladen to score his second of the game with a clinical finish from 15 yards 2 minutes into injury time.

Full-time: 3-0