Bitter Disappointment For Ladies’ 1s

Saturday’s home defeat was about as disappointing and frustrating as they come. To be fair to Basingstoke, they played the game as if their season depended on it whilst there were times in the first half when we did not play as well as we needed to. However, we came back strongly in the second half when we were the better team.

At the end it felt like we had lost a match we should have been able to win but it was also true that we were on the wrong end of some key umpiring decisions at crucial moments which had an impact on the outcome of the match.

Emma Boddington and Anya Middleton were missing from the team that played Clifton Robinsons 2s a fortnight earlier but Alicia Caillard returned to the team, albeit hampered by an injury.

There was drama beforehand when the preceding match was abandoned at half-time due to a waterlogged pitch but the weather eased sufficiently and some hard work brushing away the surface water allowed the game to begin on schedule.

The opening minutes of the match consisted of cautious sparring as both sides tried to establish some sort of rhythm. Fareham have yet to go ahead in any game this season and the first goal was always going to be important. Once again it was the opposition who opened the scoring. Emily Shepherd cut into the area and set up a comfortable finish for FIONA PARKER at the far post in the 7th minute.

The visitors could have had a second goal in the 13th minute when Alexis Hornsby found herself in space but her shot was wide of the left post.

Fareham began the 2nd quarter well and put Basingstoke under pressure as the home side had the territorial advantage although this didn’t translate into clear goalscoring opportunities until just before half time.

The first moment of controversy came in the 29th minute. A quick pass from Sarah Atkinson found Poppy Roddis just outside the 23 but her progress was halted inside the area by a foul from the goalkeeper, Gemma Carswell. The initial reaction was that it should have been a penalty stroke rather than the penalty corner that was awarded. Reviewing the incident afterwards, the contact was perhaps not as bad as it had initially looked but it was still a foul and, with Poppy about to shoot, a stroke could easily have been given.

Four minutes later Tegan Lyne finished off a strong run from halfway with a shot which was saved by the keeper as the hosts threatened again.

The pivotal moment of the game came in the 34th minute with half-time approaching. A shot from Basingstoke’s first penalty corner hit the foot of Abbey Carroll and a penalty stroke was signalled. There was no argument that the ball hit the foot but the shot was going well wide of the far post and it felt like the umpires had got the call badly wrong. CLAIRE BOWMAN stepped up to take the stroke and although Sophia Barclay got a hand to the shot it just dropped over the line to make it 2-0.

The circumstances and the timing of the call, just before the break, left the home side feeling aggrieved and they immediately won a penalty corner at the other end as the whistle blew for half-time. The initial corner was a scrambled affair with several close range blocked shots but the defence survived the onslaught and although a second corner followed the score remained unchanged.

Fired up by a sense of injustice and knowing how important it was to get a positive result, Fareham started the second half positively and went on to dominate the 3rd quarter. Tara Lemon and Sian Edwards combined to create an opening for Tegan Lyne who won an early penalty corner.

The visitors threatened briefly when Claire Bowman found herself in a dangerous position in the circle before shooting wide but the pattern of play soon resumed as a strong run down the left by Tegan Lyne allowed Gracie Coleman to win a penalty corner. An even better chance came moments later when Gracie cut through the opposition with typically graceful ease on a long run which almost brought a goal but the final pass could not quite be converted by either Sarah Atkinson or Izzy Austin who were both inches away from a decisive touch.

Fareham only had to wait another minute though as they halved the deficit in the 47th minute. IZZY AUSTIN stretched to intercept a pass across the goalmouth before sidestepping the keeper and shooting inside the far post to make it 2-1 and score her first league goal for Fareham.

Heading into the final quarter the game could have gone either way but the momentum was with the home team who continued to move the ball well. As we moved towards the last ten minutes Basingstoke picked up a yellow card for not retreating five yards on a sideline hit and Fareham would also receive a yellow in the closing minutes after a mistimed tackle by Alice Lander. The colour of the card seemed harsh in both cases.

The final key moment of the game came in the 60th minute. A Fareham attack down the left was halted when the ball was intercepted by a Basingstoke player. The ball bounced off her shin but she was not called back and eventually continued her run to the goal line to set up a penalty corner as Sophia’s kick clear was deemed to be dangerous.
There was almost an air of inevitability that the missed call was going to be crucial and Basingstoke duly scored from the penalty corner as EMILY SHEPHERD redirected the original shot past Sophia to restore the visitors’ two goal advantage.

Fareham tried to respond and a Sarah Atkinson shot from a penalty corner was saved by the keeper. Another shot by Sarah was also saved in the final minute after Gracie Colman worked hard to create the opportunity but time ran out shortly afterwards and it was Basingstoke who picked up the points.

The result leaves us at the bottom of the table, currently six points from safety, as Basingstoke have overtaken us. We have undoubtedly been short of good fortune in most of our games this season and have deserved at least one win but we know that we are the only people who can get ourselves out of our current situation. We have more than enough ability to win matches and pull ourselves to safety but we know we need to play better on a consistent basis and must be more clinical when we have chances to score.

Next week we are back on the road again but it is a short trip as we play a league game against Trojans (12.00) for the first time since before the national league was formed in the late 1980s. Trojans will be looking to maintain their position at the top of the table whilst we will be looking to spring a surprise.