Match Report

The team were bolstered by new additions Alex Hall, Phil ‘the beast’ Maunder and Alex ‘hairy man’ Wookey Wookey. Considering our strong performance last week the momentum was with us and we were keen to make an assertive start.

Pleasingly, this is exactly what we did. In the first twenty minutes we commanded the game with plenty of possession and penetration in the final third. Movement off the ball was good, passing was crisp and the likes of Aidy Richardson and along with Alex Hall saw lots of pressure down the left hand side. The dominance resulted in our first goal coming from Nick 'arse' dribbler’ Hutton which was a rebound off of the keeper neatly finished reverse stick into the corner of the goal. We had ample opportunities in front of goal as well as an abundance of short corners but we could not translate either into goals. The Fareham keeper saw plenty of action and was key in keeping us at bay with so many saves at such close range.

This seemed to kick start an improved performance by Fareham and they came back strongly into the game. In the later stages of the first half. Following a few mistakes which could have been avoided we found ourselves 2-1 down. This rocked our confidence and no longer were we moving the ball around with authority but seemed to be making poor errors resulting in needless turnovers. We came back into the game a little towards the end of the half but neither Richard ‘goal machine’ Purdy or Mike ‘one arm’ Foulds were able to score and equaliser.

The talk at half time was positive. We were still in the game, much the better side despite the result and needed to shorten the pass to make possession count.

Sadly the game started exactly as we had hoped it wouldn’t. From a quick break leaving our defence exposed Fareham were able to grab a third. Although the margin between the two teams was significant this scoreline was not a fair reflection of the game making. We were now totally committed to claiming at least a point from the game which was no more than we deserved.

From this point on we had spells of good possession and found ourselves frequently knocking on the door. Thankfully Jon ‘oil tanker’ Ship was able to find the key to unlock it following an attack down the left hand side. His neat finish over the keeper was reminiscent of his similar well taken goal in the previous game.

Phil Maunder made a significant contribution to the game with some incisive runs down the right creating plenty of chances for the team. Despite ample pressure, waves of attack, countless short corners but spadefuls of bad luck we couldn’t get the equaliser.

Although we lost the game we were proud of our performance. The difference between the two teams was Fareham’s ability to take their chances. We were not outplayed by any stretch of the imagination and our frustration was an indication of how close we came to getting something from the game.

We now sit forth in the table after two games and with two good performers we have every hope of making a positive impact on the league.