Fareham completed a largely disappointing home league campaign on Saturday with a crucial 2-1 home victory against Salisbury, confirming relegation for their opponents. With the number of clubs going down from South Central Premier 1 being determined by events in the national league it was hoped that our safety might be confirmed at the end of the day but that was not to be. With one round of matches left there could still be anywhere between one and three teams who go down but, having guaranteed we will finish outside the bottom two places, the win puts us in a stronger position than some other teams going into the final match.

The home side had a strong squad of fifteen players as they hoped for a repeat of their convincing away win over the same opponents early in the season. However, nothing could be taken for granted in a division where there have been more away wins than home victories this season.

Fareham began the game determined that there would not be a repeat of the previous week’s match at Henley where a second minute penalty corner goal proved to be enough for the opposition to take all the points. The omens did not look good when exactly the same thing happened as Salisbury took the lead from a PC in the 2nd minute ! Josephine Nash had the original shot which was well saved by the outstretched left foot of Sophia Barclay but Esme Rogers and Sophie Hayakawa worked hard to retrieve the ball and it was eventually fed across goal for CLOVER CROSSE to finish from close range at the far post.

That would turn out to be the only Salisbury PC of the entire game but territorially they probably had the edge in the rest of the opening quarter although Fareham steadily got into their rhythm as the quarter unfolded and they slowly began to dictate the tempo. Despite this the only real chance they had to show for their efforts was a shot from Lois Haigh after good work by Issie Chapman down the left side of the ‘D’.

It became apparent early in the 2nd quarter that the majority of the action would be taking place nearer the visitor’s goal as Fareham began to look a threat with their patient build-up. They duly drew level with a goal in the 23rd minute when LOIS HAIGH took advantage of some confusion in the Salisbury defence with a quickly taken free hit on the edge of the ‘D’. Taking the ball around one defender, she finished the move by slotting the ball past the keeper into the far corner.

The hosts maintained the pressure with a series of penalty corners in the next five minutes. From the fourth of these Issie Chapman’s shot was stopped close to the goal line, giving Sam Powell an opportunity but, after her touch, the ball rolled agonisingly along the line without anyone being able to apply the finish

After a brief respite for the visitors, Fareham took charge again. Leah Payne’s run down the left set up a PC. Lois Haigh had two shots saved by Jilly Tovey, the former Fareham player, in the Salisbury goal. That was the end of the first half action and although the scores were level Fareham were very much in the ascendancy.

The home team resumed their assault on the Salisbury goal after the break. Two early PCs yielded nothing but four minutes after the break Harriet Burrell’ s through ball to Summer Davis was slipped left to Kendra Druce whose dangerous shot beat the keeper but hit the outside of the post.

Two minutes later the always busy Kendra combined with Summer and Lois to win another PC. The lofted shot from Lois just had slightly too much height to find the top corner.

A quick Salisbury break briefly looked threatening in the 44th minute but Lois ended the threat with a strong flat stick and within seconds a Fareham counter-attack was under way. A nicely weighted pass through the middle put Kendra clear with Eve Davies in support. With the keeper coming out of her goal, Kendra tried to set up the chance for Eve but the pass was a fraction behind her.

Another Salisbury break seconds later almost offered a chance in the ‘D’ but Helen Rident was in the right place to clear the ball from in front of the goal.

The hosts came close again in the 49th minute when another threatening run down the left side by Issie Chapman created a chance for herself and Kendra Druce but both saw their shots blocked.

Two minutes later another Fareham PC led to a high shot from Lois Haigh being knocked down by Jilly Tovey before the visitors were eventually able to clear their lines. The Salisbury keeper was called into action a minute later when Eve set up another opportunity for Kendra but the keeper was quickly off her line to get a foot to the ball before the Fareham player could shoot.

The 3rd quarter ended with the home side still dominating play. They will have been happy with their superiority but were also conscious that they had to find a goal in the final period as nothing less than a win would really be good enough as their final match is a tough one.

Fareham kept pushing for the goal but had little luck creating a clear chance until the 59th minute when Helen Rident threaded a perfect pass into the ‘D’ for Lois Haigh to steer past the keeper only for Catherine Payne to clear the ball off the line.

A couple more half chances were glimpsed in the next few minutes but with time running out there would not be many more opportunities. Finally the breakthrough came in the 63rd minute after another good move down the right ended with the ball being played onto a Salisbury foot in the area. From the penalty corner Sam Powell and Lois Haigh exchanged passes before the latter shot towards the far post. The keeper stopped the shot but with the defenders struggling to clear the danger Eve Davies tenaciously dug out the ball from amongst the crowd of defenders before presenting it to ISSIE CHAPMAN who was in position to score

With seven minutes remaining the home side decided that the best strategy was to try for another goal to make certain but without committing too many players forward. It was working well until a rare Salisbury foray into the opposition half set up a shot from the edge of the ‘D’ for Clover Crosse. Sophia had to make up a lot of ground to get over to the post and may have just had it covered but fortunately the shot was just wide.

The visitors had a little too much possession for comfort for the next minute or so until Fareham regained control and moved the ball down to the other end of the pitch, winning their final PC in the last minute. The final shot was high and a little wide but before Salisbury could restart the whistle blew for the end of the game.

For a game that we had dominated for the most part it was still a long, nerve-wracking afternoon which summed up a lot of what has happened this season when we have been on top in games but have found it so difficult to score the goals we have deserved.

We now go to the final game of the season at Basingstoke on Saturday (11.45) knowing we are close to retaining our place in the division. A win or draw would remove any doubt but there are several scenarios in our division and the one above which would still work in our favour even if we can’t pick up any points. If Marlow can pick up at least a point from their final match in Conference West then no more than two teams will go down which would mean we are safe. If three go down then the only way we can be relegated (assuming no future points deductions for anyone) would be if we lose and both Amersham and Maidenhead win and the combined margin of our defeat and Maidenhead’s win was at least nine goals. Hopefully we can take care of business and we won’t have to worry about such things.