Fareham scored twice in three third-quarter minutes to beat draw specialists Ashmoor 2-1 and ease themselves out of the Western Conference danger zone.
Paul Metcalf and George Davey scored the goals which earned Fareham their first win of the season from a match low in quality and which only came to life in its latter stages.
Fareham’s young and inexperienced squad has been boosted with the return of Steve Daxter and Jack Simmons alongside James Morris, with the pre-half-term 1-1 draw at Havant and the win over Ashmoor giving the side confidence ahead of Saturday’s demanding lunchtime visit to second placed Chichester (1.30).
Fareham ‘led’ Ashmoor 4-2 on unconverted penalty corners until that critical period early in the third quarter when they opened up the visitors’ defence.
Nippy England Under-16 starlet Charlie Cook was the architect behind both the Fareham goals, his right-side dart in to the Ashmoor circle forcing a penalty corner from which Paul Metcalf scored his second National League goal.
Cook, whose England team-mate Matt Dicker really caught the eye in midfield, had an ever bigger hand in Fareham’s second points-clinching goal.
Picking up on a surging run out of defence by Kieron Page, Cook forced another short corner, which Davey fired against the backboard to make it 2-0.
Ashmoor, who had drawn all four of their previous games, cut the gap early in the final quarter, but Fareham managed the closing stages satisfactorily, with goalkeeper Alex White making several fine saves.

                      It's a goal !  George Davey fires Fareham's second points clinching winner (Steve Godwin)

Chichester sit proudly in second place in England Hockey’s Western Conference after bowling Havant off top spot with a 3-1 victory over their local rivals.
It was Chichester’s third win in five matches ahead of another tasty derby with Fareham at the College on Saturday, 1.30pm.
They stretched the game at Havant College by playing with two high forwards who thrived on long aerial passes and took a tenth minute lead through Joe Bugden.
The second quarter saw Havant pressing for an equaliser which came in the 21st minute from a short corner, Maciej Janiszewski picking up a rebound.  
Havant ought to have taken an interval lead, but Chris Bristow made a key save to deny Bradley Lock.
Two goals in quick succession early in the third quarter clinched the points for Chichester, who only trail Exeter-based Isca on goal difference a the top.
They won two early short corners, the second of which was powered home inside the right-hand post by Josh Brown.                    
A minute later Havant were guilty of giving the ball away whilst mounting an attach. A quickly mounted Chichester breakaway culminated in a penalty stroke, which Adam Bloomfield dispatched  confidently past Maciej Pacanowski.
Chichester defended resolutely as Havant looked to regain a foothold and always looked dangerous when they turned the ball over and ran out winners with a tactically good and strong team performance.

​Havant’s Jonathan Pickett grabbed a late equaliser to deny Fareham a surprise first win of the season from a Western Conference derby which attracted a floodlit crowd of 400 or more to Havant College.
Pickett levelled the scores 1-1 three minutes from the end, George Davey having fired the visitors ahead from the first penalty corner of the game.  In-between there was plenty of action in what was a feisty affair, nearly always expected in this local derby.
Second from bottom with only one previous point from an opening day 5-5 draw at Plymouth Marjon, Fareham started the stronger pushing Havant back into defence and were rewarded from  their first penalty corner. They went on to test goalkeeper Maciej Pacanowski on several more occasions.
Havant improved as the game progressed and won their first penalty corner in the 20th minute. The resulting routine saw the ball crash against the Fareham post and away to safety. This near miss seemed to encourage Havant as they retained more possession, but it was Fareham who had the next opportunity in the 24th minute from their fourth penalty corner. Another variation was saved by Maciej. 
Fareham’s pressure and double teaming was giving Havant little time on the ball and a long overhead from the visitors defence found a Fareham forward in space and it took a goal line clearance from Jonathan Pickett to prevent the visitors from doubling their lead.
Fareham again started the second half strongly with Havant struggling to get a foothold in the game, but they did win the first penalty corner of the third quarter, but the ball flew wide of the visitors goal. 
At this point Havant enjoyed their best spell of the game resulting in a shot being deflected wide of the upright by a defender’s stick. This was immediately followed by Havant's 4th penalty corner, but this time the ball was not stopped at the top of the circle. 
Two minutes later Havant won their 5th penalty corner after James Morris was put under pressure in the circle by teenager Ben Hegan. Fareham’s goalkeeper Alex White was equal to the challenge and saved the resulting shot. 
Fareham won a fifth penalty corner on the hour mark and Havant their sixth 'short' soon after neither troubling the respective defences. With a win for the visitors looking the more likely result Havant won their 7th penalty corner in the 67th minute and with a slick routine this provided Jonathan Pickett with a chance, who made no mistake with an unstoppable shot through Alex White’s legs to rattle the backboard and square the match. 

Fareham ladies are off to a flier in the South Central Women's Premier Division 1 and share top place with Bournemouth after four straight wins - but their success has got coach Steve Lemon on edge.
Lemon is worried that he might he named 'manager of the month' - an award that all too often brings a defeat for the recipient in the very next game !
"Looks what's happened to Danny Cowley ? Since he picked up his League One soccer award, Pompey have hit a lean patch and have won only once," he pointed.
"All joking apart, the girls deserve their success. They've begun the season so well, the only downside being that we've dominated matches by greater margins than the scorelines suggest."
Fareham have so far danged in 14 goals and conceded only two - that brace coming in the opening match at Marlow when several of the side ran into traffic problems en route to the game and they fell behind, but went on to win 3-2.   
They've kept clean sheets in the next three games, beating Havant 4-0 (Lauren Anning 2, Sarah Johns, Georgie Coleman), champions  Oxford Hawks 3-0 (Poppy Roddis, Johns, Coleman) and Maidenhead 4-0, with Anning and Rebecca Reavell scoring in the first half and Coleman and Sian Edwards doubling the score after the break.

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Havant continue to sit on top of the Men’s Western Conference table even though they dropped two points away at Plymouth Marjon, the team returning very disappointed that they did not win all three points having dominated a large percentage of the game. 
Jonathon Pickett and James Speke converted Havant’s fourth and eighth penalty corners, but Plymouth hit back twice to secure a 2-2 draw.
Havant enjoyed 40 circle entries, but will have worked on their finishing ahead of Saturday’s floodlight derby with Fareham at Havant College, 6.30pm.


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Fareham took an early lead through skipper George Davey against visiting Clifton Robinsons and enjoyed plenty of possession in the lead up to half-time.
But the Bristol visitors, managed by former Basingstoke & North Hants cricketer David Hacker, got to grips with affairs and emerged 2-1 winners from a match low on quality.
Chichester were held 1-1 by Ashmoor.
In the South Central League, Trojans won 6-2 at Oxford Brookes, while Basingstoke and Winchester shared a six-goal 3-3 thriller and Bournemouth were held 1-1 by Maidenhead.

James Speke (left) notched a hat-trick inside ten second half minutes as Havant routed Cardiff University 8-2 to emerge as embryo Western Conference leaders.
Chris Smith converted two short corners before Owen Barnes gave Havant a 3-0 interval lead. Morgan Sturt got a fourth before Speke’s threesome.  Polish goalkeeper Maciej Janiszewski added his name to the scoresheet in the dying minutes. 
Josh Steel put Chichester on level terms at 1-1 against Isca before the Exeter team ran out 3-1 winners.
Former Winchester pair Isaac Hocking and Micah Smithard scored second half goals to secure a 2-2 draw for Clifton Robinsons with Ashmoor, who bagged a late penalty corner equaliser.
There’s been no shortage of goals in Trojans’ opening two South Central League matches – eight in the 4-4 draw at Reading and another eight when leaders Marlow won 5-3 at Stoneham Lane.
Winchester thrashed Oxford Brookes 4-0, Bournemouth beat Reading 2-1 and Basingstoke were edged out 3-2 at Henley.

Fareham ladies are off to a flier in the South Central Women’s League, with back-to-back victories over Marlow and Havant giving them a 100 per cent start to the season.
They share top spot in the embryo Premier Division 1 table with Bournemouth and Amersham & Chalfont, who have also won twice.
Fareham head coach Steve Lemon has been busy in the transfer market with a raft of fresh faces joining the Henry Cort set – but what he didn’t anticipate was the huge traffic snarls up which led to three of his squad not arriving until half-time at Marlow !
Depleted Fareham leaked two goals in the opening nine minutes, but got a foothold in the game with a 22nd minute penalty corner conversion when an Aimee Timms shot was guided home by Rebecca Reavell.   Half-time 2-1.
With a full complement of players available, Fareham equalized four minutes after the break and proceeded to boss the second period.
Another penalty corner, but this time Timms turned creator to goalscorer, equalizing from Tara Lemon’s pass.
It remained 2-2 until a minute from time, when some patient build-up play down the left by Kiera Denham culminated in an inch-perfect pass across goal for Lydia Jackson to score the winner.
Fareham’s follow-up win, a 4-0 demolition of local rivals Havant was far more comprehensive – and ought to have been by a far wider margin.
They were a goal up inside five minutes through a short corner deflection by Laura Anning, a lead both Lydia Jackson and Lucie Bishop might have doubled before Gracie Coleman made it 2-0.
Beaten 4-0 in their SCWL opener, Havant clung on until Poppy Roddis cut into the D from the right and picked out Sarah Johns at the far post to make it 3-0.
Fareham’s fourth goal came midway through the second period. A long corner was taken quickly by Alicia Caillard, feeding Lauren Anning, who exchanged passes with Johns before finishing from close range for her second goal of the game.

​Plymouth Marjon and Fareham played out an entertaining and physical 5-5 draw in a Western Conference opener in South Devon, where three goals in three minutes early in the first quarter set the tone for a fast-open and free-flowing attacking game of hockey. 
Fareham were 3-2 up inside 14 minutes through Rob Satonna, George Davey and Paul Metcalf, but by half-time were level 4-4 with captain Davey scoring his second. Fergus Jackson (left) converted a penalty stroke to make it 5-4, but Plymouth equalised to make it 5-all on the hour mark.
A late Oli Baxter goal two minutes from time gave Chichester a dramatic 3-2 win at Exeter University, where Portsmouth Grammar School raised Alex Beckett was on target for the students. Joe Budgen and Josh Brown scored second half goals for Chichester.
Relegated Havant opened with a 3-1 win over visiting Cardiff & Met, with Owen Barnes, Craig Duffy and James Speke on target. Former Fareham wing back Will Raymond converted a last gasp penalty stroke for Cardiff.
Goals flowed in South Central 1, with Trojans held 4-4 at Reading II, Basingstoke beaten 5-4 by Staines and Winchester 7-3 at Marlow. Bournemouth lost 3-0 at Slough, while in Division 2 Havant suffered a 3-0 loss at Eastcote and Fareham were beaten 3-2 by visiting Oxford Hawks.

The new season is ready for push-back with plenty of local interest in the men's Western Conference with Chichester, Fareham and Havant featuring among the ten sides.
One step down, Basingstoke, Bournemouth, Trojans and Winchester play in South Central Premier, with Fareham and Havant second teams in Division 2.
Relegated from the national league at the end of last term, Trojans ladies feature in the women's Western Conference alongside Basingstoke.