Petersfield Town manager Connor Hoare was full of praise for his side after they returned to winning ways with an impressive 2-1 victory at Cowes Sports in the Wessex League Premier Division.

The Rams had to dig in and come from behind to beat ten-man Cowes Sports in an entertaining clash on the Isle of Wight.

An own goal followed by a Dec Seiden winner was enough to cancel out an early opener from Connor Kelly.

The visitors had no recognised centre-back. Charlie Merritt came inside to cover alongside Rudi Blankson, who joined from Horndean for the game.

The hosts took the lead on eight minutes when Kelly broke away on the counter attack, cut inside and hit his low effort from range into the bottom corner.

The turning point came just before half-time when George Colson received a second yellow card. His first card was issued for kicking the ball away and was followed by the second for dissent.

Space opened up in the second half and Kieran Alcock made it count. On 62 minutes his cross took a deflection and went in at the near post.

Seiden scored his third goal in four games on 70 minutes to seal the three points. Substitute Matt Dougan brought the ball down well and found Seiden, who turned his man and shot low and hard into the bottom left corner.

“It was a great win away on the island at an extremely tough place to go,” said Hoare.

“We had all our centre-backs out of action and only one player in the back four playing in their usual position – Keiran – so it was an excellent result.

“We were able to take complete control after the sending-off and get on top.

“The way we play is always going to be tiring for the opposition towards the end of the game – especially if they have ten men.

“Dec is in great form. He’s played well all year. I’m glad to see him adding goals to those performances.”

The Rams have added to their squad with the arrival of Chad Cornwell, and Hoare is delighted to get his man.

“Chad is a really good signing,” said Hoare. “He adds lots of pace and quality in the attacking third. I’m delighted to have him.”

Next up for the Rams is a trip to bottom side Lymington Town today (Saturday), but Hoare is refusing to take them lightly.

“We go into the Lymington game exactly as we have done in every game,” said Hoare.

“We make sure we are prepared and that we are ready to work hard and be disciplined.

“Anything can happen in football so it’s important we are on top of our game to make sure we come out with the result.”