Another Good Effort But Fareham’s Fate Is All But Sealed

Fareham went into Saturday’s match at home to Oxford Hawks trailing their opponents by nine points. A win could have closed the gap to six but victory for the Hawks has left us twelve adrift and, with only five games to play, realistically relegation will soon be confirmed.

It was another frustrating and disappointing afternoon because, as has been the case in several games, we were on top for long periods and created more chances than the opposition (who voted their goalkeeper as man of the match). Despite this the Hawks had the cushion of a two goal lead for much of the game and Fareham’s solitary goal came with five minutes remaining.

Sarah Atkinson and Isabel Austin were back in the line up for the game but we were without Sian Edwards and Aimee Timms. Another positive start from the home side saw Gracie Coleman have an opportunity to score in the 3rd minute. A typical run saw her glide past several defenders but the final one, keeper Emma Page, just got to the ball first to clear the danger.

Oxford had half chances in the opening quarter but they generally got no further than the edge of the area before they were stopped. When the ball was played into the ‘D’ Tara Lemon and Sophia Barclay were on hand to tidy up at the back and the closest they came to a goal was a quick hit into the area which went straight into the goal without being touched.

In contrast, Fareham created some quality chances. Late in the quarter a long clearance out of defence by Libby Jones was helped on by Sarah Atkinson with a quick pass to Isabel Austin who burst clear and rounded the keeper but the ball was cleared off the line. Further opportunities from the rebound fell to both Sarah and Isabel but the keeper kept them out.

In the final minute of the quarter Hollie Smith had a good shot which was once again saved by the goalkeeper.

The 2nd quarter proved to be pivotal as controversial umpiring decisions at key moments worked against Fareham who then took a little while to regain their rhythm.

The first goal officially came in the 18th minute although it was probably a couple of minutes later due to some confusion caused by various stoppages in the quarter. The away side won a penalty corner after Katie Paxman’s tackle near the goal line led to a penalty corner which was not well received by the watching gallery. The resulting PC was even less popular. The initial shot hit Katie high on her body, near her shoulder, and then fell to REBECCA ODLIN who scored from the rebound. Maybe Fareham were guilty of waiting for the whistle but it looked like the goal should have been disallowed. However, a quick conference between the officials confirmed the score.

The next ten minutes were quite scrappy but livened up by Katie launching another wayward aerial out of the cage and into the school. It has to be said, nobody does it better !

The quality of the play picked up again and Hawks scored their second goal in the 28th minute. If the first goal was questionable then there was no doubting the quality of MEGAN TAYLOR’s lifted shot into the top corner from another penalty corner.

Fareham hit back and Katie Paxman had a shot kicked clear by the keeper. This set up a penalty corner leading to a Sarah Atkinson shot being saved for a long corner.

Another PC followed late in the half after a foul on Gracie Coleman. Sarah and Gracie exchanged passes before Sarah shot just wide of the post.

Fareham could easily have felt aggrieved to be two down at half-time but, even though the officials had played a part in their misfortune, the visitors had made the most of their few chances.

The 3rd quarter was mostly dominated by Fareham with very little threat from the opposition. There were two good opportunities for the hosts. A break down the left side in the 38th minute, orchestrated by Libby Jones and Georgia Collins, set up a chance for Hollie Smith near the goal line but the keeper saved well at the near post. Five minutes later Hollie had a shot from a penalty corner which was cleared off the line by Emily Cavender.

The final quarter was probably the most open of the game with chances at both ends. It began with Sarah Atkinson and Alicia Caillard working together before the latter shot just wide of the far post.

The visitors almost put the game out of reach in the 56th minute when a long ball out of defence was chased down by Evie Phillips who had too much pace for Tara Lemon, the Fareham captain. With two team mates in support and just Sophia to beat a goal seemed inevitable but the ball was squared to Claire Werlinger who missed the target from a couple of yards out. Unfortunately for her, it was as close to an open goal as you can get.

Hawks were on top at this stage. Sophia saved at close range from an Eloise Ward shot and four minutes later, in the 64th minute, the margin was increased to 3-0. Lucy Dakin set up Eloise Ward down the left and her cross into the ‘D’ broke loose to LEXIE SPURR who put away the rebound.

In a reminder of what might have been, Fareham hit back in the 65th minute, immediately from the restart. Alicia Caillard was set up on the left of the area. Her shot was saved by the keeper but was only cleared as far as HOLLIE SMITH who finished with a high shot into the net to register her first goal for the 1s and bring some reward for her hard work.

The goal was well deserved but of course it was too late to alter the outcome. Oxford had one final opportunity which Sophia dealt with and the final whistle was blown with Fareham in possession on the edge of the opposition area.

With Cheltenham winning at Trojans, Oxford Hawks remain 8th despite the win but the gap to both Basingstoke and Fareham has increased and they can feel fairly safe now.

It feels like we have to play the league leaders every couple of weeks at the moment and next Saturday it happens again as we travel to Bristol to play Clifton Robinsons 2s (12.15). Clifton were relegated in 2022 in their first season at this level but bounced back straight away and have shown what is possible with some experience under your belt. It will be another tough test but we can take encouragement from the fact that after conceding the only goal in the first minute of our match at Henry Cort we caused them a lot of problems for the remainder of the game.