Following the previous week’s first loss of the season against the new leaders, Oxford University, Fareham travelled to Reading last Saturday looking to pick up the winning thread once again. It looked likely to be a difficult match and the early omens were not good. The squad was reduced to twelve in the morning, one player did not arrive until just after pushback through no fault of her own and to cap it off our captain had an altercation with a water cannon at very close range during the warmup and was drenched before the start.

The home side started quickly, winning their first penalty corner in the 2nd minute but Sophia Barclay comfortably stopped the eventual shot after a 2nd retake. By this time our twelfth player had arrived and we started to settle down.

Jenny Sinclair intercepted a pass and made her way into the Reading ‘D’ before being fouled which led to a penalty corner. A second immediately followed and resulted in the opening goal for Fareham in the 7th minute. Sammy Powell’s angled pass into the danger area was diverted past the keeper by ALICIA SALTER.

Five minutes later the visitors had another great chance to increase the lead from another PC. Zoe Stride’s shot was deflected by Alicia Salter again but the ball came back off the post and hit a Reading foot for another PC.

Play settled into a pattern after this with Fareham moving the ball well without necessarily threatening to add to their tally. There was always the danger of a quick counter attack and this duly happened in the 27th minute when a misplaced pass set up a Reading shot which was saved by Sophia Barclay at the near post for a long corner.

After this brief moment of concern, the visitors regained the initiative and doubled their lead in the final minute of the first half. It began with a surging run between defenders by Lauren Beagrie who crossed from near the goal line. The ball was parried away by the keeper and, although it was high, the umpire played advantage as ZOE STRIDE brought the ball under control before smacking an unstoppable shot past Abigail Cox in the home goal.

A two goal half-time cushion meant the visitors started the second half in a comfortable position but this threatened to change as the home side was the first to score after the break. A long run into the PC created danger but a combination of Sophia and Lauren kept the ball out but at the expense of a 46th minute PC. JADZIA LAMDIN’s powerful strike from the corner reduced the arrears.

Fareham reacted well to the setback and regained the two goal lead in the 50th minute. Alicia Salter pounced on a wayward Reading pass and headed into the area. Her shot was saved by the keeper but AMY HILL was on hand to neatly tuck away the rebound to make the score 3-1.

With the margin restored Fareham continued to dictate matters. The fourth goal duly arrived in the 61st minute. Another dangerous run down the right side by Lauren Beagrie finished with her pulling the ball back from the goal line to the hard working IZZY AUSTIN who showed great determination to finish off the move and make it 4-1.

By now the result looked assured but there was still time for Reading to look for at least one consolation goal. With five minutes remaining the home side won another PC and the result was similar to their first goal as once again JADZIA LAMDIN was on target although she was aided by a deflection off a defender. Reading kept pressing in the last few minutes but once again Sophia Barclay was on hand to save a strong shot in the 69th minute as the match drew to an end.

A 4-2 win was encouraging given the obstacles that had to be overcome. After a wait to find out scores from elsewhere we discovered Oxford University had beaten Basingstoke which meant that Fareham remain a point behind OU at the top of the table with three more matches to play. We are back at home on Saturday 15th (13.30) in another big match against Oxford Hawks 2s. We won comfortably when we met earlier in the season but Saturday’s visitors have ended a worrying recent run of form and, with seven points from their last three matches, they have all but guaranteed another season in the division.