TADLEY Calleva lost 3-1 at home to Wessex League Division One high-flyers Petersfield Town on Saturday – but manager Danny Dolan was able to take plenty of positives from his side’s performance.

The hosts went into the game on a terrible run of form but they took the lead on 25 minutes. Dolan handed debuts to two new signings, brothers Toluwa and Tammy Sotonye, and Toluwa repaid his boss’ faith by opening the scoring with a composed finish from James Milford’s through-ball.

Petersfield had turned the game on its head by the break, leading 2-1 at half-time, but Tadley would have gone in level had the visiting goalkeeper not pulled off a great save to deny Brett Denham.

Tadley remained right in the game until the 80th minute, when Petersfield added a third, but Dolan was delighted with his side’s display.

“I was really pleased with the performance,” he said. “The work-rate and attitude the guys showed was 10 times better than it had been in the last game.

“We are having a tough time but are not a million miles away from where we need to be.”

Tadley face another tough test tomorrow night, when they host league leaders Andover Town at Barlows Park.

Dolan added: “It’s going to be tough but you never know what we can achieve if we show the same attitude and work-rate that we did on Saturday.”