Petersfield Town exited the Hampshire Senior Cup in the second round with an emphatic 5-1 defeat at home to Eversley & California.

A very young Petersfield side were convincingly knocked out of the cup by Combined Counties Division One outfit Eversley & California at Love Lane.

The Rams’ second-string side were hit for five by the visitors, despite Will Essai netting a consolation penalty for the home side.

With youth came a lack of muscle in the box, which the visitors exploited in the 19th minute. Despite Harry Fordham having a good chance snuffed out at one end, a corner from the other brought the first goal for the visitors. A cross into the centre was headed down and past Rams keeper Riley Garrett by Eversley’s Lewis Parker.

The game was fairly even with both sides carving out opportunities. Petersfield nearly equalised when Kieran Mayele’s shot was well smothered. Mayele and Austin Giles were standouts for the Rams, but it was visiting full-back Callum Samuel-Harman who stole the show.

The visitors started to show their pedigree in the second half and doubled their advantage in the 54th minute. Joe Pantony’s pass found Samuel-Harman, who won the ball, went around Garrett and picked his spot to make it 2-0.

The third goal followed in the 60th minute. With Petersfield out of shape, a cross from the left saw Ben Thompson get goalside of the defender, take a touch and blast his finish past Garrett.

It was 4-0 on 72 minutes. Samuel-Harman’s low cross found Thompson at the back post, and although Garrett made a superb save Nathan Mindomba charged in to score from the rebound.

Jo Houldsworth put a free header wide for the Rams, but a good run from Jacob Hoare led to a foul and a penalty for Petersfield. Essai stepped up and sent the visiting keeper the wrong way to make it 4-1.

The smiles were quickly dashed as the visitors had their four-goal cushion back less than 60 seconds later. Thompson’s cross picked out Will May, who finished confidently to make it 5-1 and seal the visitors’ emphatic victory.