Fareham 2s won through to the final of the Women's Hampshire Trophy 3-1 on penalty strokes against Trojans 4s after a goalless draw. It is a match that will long be remembered, not particularly for the quality of the hockey but mostly for a bizarre penalty shootout which lasted 25 minutes and featured four goals, two saves, one miss, two final whistles, two match winning celebrations and an embarrassing inability to perform basic maths !

The first seventy minutes can be summed up fairly simply. Fareham dominated the game but could not turn their possession into a goal. Fareham's penalty corner count reached double figures but they struggled to create gilt edged chances. The closest to a goal came in a spell of pin ball in the Trojans 'D' mid-way through the second half when three shots rained in on the goal in quick succession, culminating in an excellent save by the Trojans keeper from point blank range to deny Daisy Davies at the far post.

If there were any nerves when the game went to penalties then one person who was looking forward to the challenge was Harriett Handley-Quint in the Fareham goal. Hattie had been a spectator throughout the game without having to touch the ball but she was ready to play her part in a big way. She immediately made a big contribution with a diving save to her right to save the first Trojans penalty. Sophie Golding held her nerve to score our first penalty and we led 1-0.

A well taken second penalty by Trojans levelled the scores at 1-1 before Ishbel Duncan restored the Fareham lead with a composed flick from the spot. Trojans then hit the post with their third penalty although Hattie was very close to it and probably had it covered.

That left it 2-1 to Fareham with our third penalty to come. Nic Denham stepped up to place her shot into the side netting, out of reach to the keeper's right to extend the lead to 3-1. At this point the umpire blew the final whistle. Most people in the stand immediately knew that they had blown too soon as Trojans still had two more penalties to take and we assumed they would realize their error. However no one from Trojans appeared to have noticed the mistake and as the players shook hands with the umpires the Fareham celebrations began. Apparently we had won, albeit in an unexpected way. Or had we ?

It was not until ten minutes later as the spectators left the stand to congregate around the entrance that we noticed the umpires, who had now left the pitch, were in conversation with some of the home supporters. As we got closer they then returned to the pitch and started talking to both teams to explain that they had made a mistake. Confusion followed and at one point it looked like they were proposing that the shootout started again from scratch but eventually it was agreed they would resume from the point where they prematurely finished.

It took some time for everyone to be ready for the resumption. Players from both sides returned to the pitch, still carrying their kit bags and there was further delay as both keepers had already removed most of their kit and had to suit up again ! Finally, almost twenty minutes after the previous penalty stroke was taken, the players took up their positions for the fourth Trojans penalty. It was all rather anticlimactic as the penalty was poorly hit straight at Hattie who joyfully booted it away and the Fareham celebrations resumed. This time they were not interrupted.

Fareham 2s will now play in the Hampshire Trophy Final at Basingstoke on Monday 2nd May where they will meet the winner of the semi final between Southampton University and Haslemere 2s.

PS Several people present remembered the last time they witnessed something similar in the Hampshire Girls U14 Cup Final when Fareham won a shootout and the umpires ended it early. However, on that occasion the mistake was realized within a couple of minutes and the delay was much shorter. Hattie was our star goalkeeper in the shootout on that occasion too.