Ladies' 1s Given Tough Workout But Continue Winning Run

After two comfortable away wins to start the season the Ladies' 1s faced sterner opposition on the road today in the form of a determined Horsham 2s side who raised their game, fiercely contesting every loose ball and pushing the visitors all the way before Fareham came away with a 3-0 win.

Despite Horsham's attempts to take the initiative from the start it was Fareham who took the lead from their first serious attack in the 6th minute. Good build up play involving half the team culminated in Heather Batten getting a crucial deflection to open the scoring from Kiera Denham's incisive pass.

Fareham looked to increase their lead with Heather and Rachael Millington-Clark both coming close whilst Vicky Field twice broke clear only to be denied by the Horsham keeper who did even better shortly afterwards when pulling off an excellent save from Georgia Collins' goal-bound reverse shot.

Horsham too had their chances in the first half but Fareham defended in numbers to keep them at bay. The second goal looked likely to be crucial and it came from the visitors five minutes before the break. Laura Pendleton's shot from a penalty corner was stopped by the keeper but Heather was on hand to pounce on the rebound to bring her goal tally to 13 in just four games.

The early part of the second half was mostly dictated by Horsham but they could not find the goal they needed to get back into contention. Goalkeeper Chelsea Evans was quick off the mark to deal with several attempts on goal and on the rare occasion when she was beaten Tara Lemon's goal-line clearance helped preserve the clean sheet.

Having soaked up this pressure from the home side Fareham gradually regained control of the game and looked increasingly likely to score again to make the game safe. Vicky and Rachael had further chances before the crucial third goal came in the 63rd minute. Rachael created the opportunity on the edge of the 'D' before Lydia Jackson took over. Twisting and turning, she left the keeper stranded before scoring with a composed reverse finish to bag her first goal in a league game.

Although not at their best, Fareham deserved the win and it was probably just the sort of contest that was needed to remind us that we will need to play better over the next few weeks against other teams near the top of the table, starting with Lewes at home (11.45) next Saturday.