Hartmann hat-trick defeats Magpies

For the third match running, the Magpies finished the game with ten men. Joe Wright was the player sent off. He was shown a straight red on 78 minutes for an act of retaliation on Blackfield sub Louis Bell, who escaped without punishment after appearing to foul the Alresford defender.

In the early stages Blackfield, with a bitterly cold gale behind them, edged it. Shaun Hughes went close for the visitors with a shot that was deflected over the bar, while at the other end Scott Waters headed just wide at the near post from a corner, and James Davis was denied a penalty after a tangle with a visiting defender inside the area.

Alresford were playing neat passing football, but not always doing it in the right areas. The first goal, on 34 minutes, came when they had tried to play their way out of defence and a stray pass went to Mark Hartmann. He took advantage of out-of-position keeper Dan Chapman to fire his side ahead.

Blackfield added a second on 42 minutes when a low right-wing cross found its way through to Neil Williams, who slotted in from close range.

The Magpies were a different proposition in the second half, and soon the pressure on the Blackfield goal began to mount. With Simon Everett prompting shrewdly from midfield and Danny Barber making incisive thrusts on the left, a home goal seemed imminent. It came on 58 minutes when Barber set up Ash Ledger for a perfect low cross, Waters finishing off the move in fine style from six yards.

The scene seemed set for a real comeback, but Blackfield extended their lead on 70 minutes when Hartmann’s innocuous-looking shot from outside the box crept past Chapman’s outstretched hand. Shortly after that Wright was sent off.

But the home side fought on, and Dean Cole pulled it back to 3-2 on 88 minutes with a long shot that flew over Hartmann’s head and into the back of the net. Blackfield did not deliver the killer blow until injury time, when an overstretched Magpies defence allowed Hartmann to complete his hat-trick at the end of an incisive move that flowed from one side of the pitch to the other.