Au Revoir But Not Goodbye

Fareham made their longest away trip on Saturday, missing several players, and battled all the way before eventually losing 2-1 at Exeter. Two late withdrawals meant that it was a small squad of 13 that made the journey to Devon. Captain Tara Lemon was back in the lineup following her enforced absence and Katie Paxman and Annabel Vigar were added to the team that drew with Cheltenham the previous week. However the list of absentees included Alicia Caillard, Leah Payne, Lauren Beagrie and Isabel Austin.

In the circumstances it was probably not surprising that the visitors took a little while to settle in the early stages and it was Exeter who offered the first threat when Rebecca Fagg shot wide from a penalty corner in the 2nd minute.

Fareham’s first attack of note came from a determined run by Katie Paxman down the left side and into the ‘D’ three minutes later. However, it was the home side that broke the deadlock in the 8th minute when ANNA MAE MORTON was on hand in the 8th minute to score from a rebound after a shot was saved.

The hosts showed pace on the counter attack a few minutes later, turning a Fareham attack into a quick break which saw Katrina Tucker fouled in the Fareham ‘D’ for another penalty corner which led to nothing. Most of Exeter’s penalty corners were in the first half and they came close to adding a second goal from another PC in the 14th minute. However, Sophia Barclay saved Bel Penfound’s shot and cleared the ball away safely.

Fareham’s first penalty corner came at the end of the opening quarter but they never had the opportunity to take it as the umpire halted play and never allowed a retake. It was one of several unclear decisions made on the day by the officials.

The home side doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when a long pass found MADDIE SCHUCHTER on the edge of the area. She turned, shook off a defender and beat Sophia with a shot just inside the far post.

At this point the home side deserved their lead but gradually Fareham began to get back into the game. A two goal deficit was recoverable, as we had shown twice in recent weeks, but it was important not to fall further behind before the break. This nearly happened with five minutes of the half remaining but a reverse shot by Anna Mae Morton hit the outside of the post and the score remained 2-0 at half-time.

Fareham hadn’t really done themselves justice in the first half but, not for the first time this season, they managed to turn things around with a much improved second half performance. It took a while though before the visitors fully got on top as both sides largely cancelled each other out in the 3rd period with both teams winning a penalty corner but failing to turn that into a goal.

The 4th quarter was dominated for the most part by the visitors who applied most of the pressure with Exeter limited to quick (dangerous) counter attacks. A 55th minute PC resulted in Katie Paxman’s diagonal ball being deflected narrowly wide by Poppy Roddis.

Gracie Coleman’s long run set up another PC in the 58th minute and a further corner one minute later saw Aimee Timms have a shot which was saved by the Exeter keeper, Hope Kent. Following the latter effort the umpire shouted something very loudly and deliberately and most players were distracted, thinking he had stopped play. However, Exeter were allowed to break clear and almost scored. The forward took the ball wide of Sophia and shot at goal but Georgia Collins was on hand to clear off the line and prevent what would have been a highly controversial goal.

Fareham continued to press for a goal and with eight minutes remaining another nice move, engineered by Libby Jones and Georgia Collins, ended with Hollie Smith’s shot saved by the keeper.

Exeter hit back and Emma Ross had a shot well saved by Sophia with three minutes left before Fareham finally got a reward for their efforts. It would be our final league goal of the season and it was a good one.

Gracie Coleman collected the ball in her own half in the 68th minute and spotted the run of HOLLIE SMITH. She found the forward with a lovely weighted pass but Hollie still had some work to do. Switching right, Hollie beat a defender and then drilled a low, powerful shot from just inside the ‘D’ into the far corner. The keeper barely saw it.

Had the goal come five minutes earlier there is every chance that we would have been able to find an equaliser but unfortunately there just wasn’t enough time. Exeter did well to keep possession initially and then they had the final opportunity of the match in the last minute after a quick break. Once again Sophia Barclay forced the forward wide which bought a bit of time and when the ball was eventually played into the centre it was Tara Lemon who was in the right place to intercept and coolly play the ball out of danger. Seconds later the final whistle blew and Exeter were 2-1 winners.

After four consecutive draws it was disappointing to finish with a defeat but Fareham have made a lot of progress in the latter part of the season and the players deserve great credit for their effort and determination shown since Christmas. The league table will show that we fell well short of safety in terms of points won. We failed to score enough goals and this made it much harder to find the wins that we needed and which eluded us. However, in every other respect the second half of our season was a big step forward. Six draws and only three defeats showed that we were a difficult side to play against and hard to beat. Everyone we played knew they had been in a tough contest. Based on every team’s final nine games we matched the champions in joint second place in terms of fewest goals conceded with just Reading having conceded one goal less. It was a brief first venture into the national league but it won’t be our last. We will return and when we do we will have learned from our first experience at this level.

We return to the South Central League. Premier Division 1 should be a very exciting division next season with Basingstoke and Oxford University also coming down from the national league and several strong sides already present who have the ability to challenge at the top of the table.

However, before that, we still have a Hampshire Cup semi final at home to Southampton to play on Saturday 20th April (11.30). The winners will play in the final at Basingstoke on Monday 6th May against Basingstoke or Havant.