Petersfield Town bowed out of the FA Vase in the first qualifying round after a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Fleetlands on Saturday.

The only goal of the game came from Kai Sterne. A well-timed run meant he received the ball in behind the defence before slotting past Rams keeper Jay Morris.

The game changed on the half-hour mark when Fleetlands keeper Matthew Gregg was sent off for handling outside his area.

Petersfield piled the pressure on the Fleetlands defence in search of an equaliser. Tom Tierney’s shot was saved, while Kieran Alcock’s deflected effort fell just wide. In added time Marvin Orepo had a snapshot from outside the box that was pushed over.

Rams boss Connor Hoare admitted his side needed to show better quality.

“We were good for the first 20 minutes, but after we fell behind we didn’t show enough quality,” said Hoare. “Fleetlands made it difficult for us and dug in when they went down to ten. We dominated possession, but we didn’t do enough with it.”

Petersfield will travel to Hungerford Town in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup on Saturday (3pm).