Cup finalists go on semi-final goal sprees

Trojans goalscorers celebrate [Neil Marshall]

Trojans and Southampton will go head-to-head in the Hampshire Women’s Cup final at Haslemere on May 6, having enjoyed goal fests in their respective semi-finals.
Cup holders Trojans squeezed every bit of juice out of Steve Lemon’s depleted Fareham, scoring 11 unanswered goals, while Southampton scored eight times without reply against Andover.
Fareham were at an immediate disadvantage with Hampshire youth calls depriving them of key young players [can Hampshire Hockey in future schedule these cup ties in midweek on alternative dates to county matches ?] and were under the cosh from the start, with Trojans having seven circle penetrations and five shots on target in the opening minutes.
Once Amy Sheehan nicked the ball off a Fareham defender to set up the opening goal for Cita Haines, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
Four more goals came before half-time, with Heather batten (2), Zoe Gittens and Freyja Haigh making it 5-0 at the break.
Fareham gave it their best shot, but were unable to get a grip on the game and only ventured into the Trojans half from restarts.
Trojans scoped six more in the second half, with Haines completing her hat-trick, and Amy Sheehan, Daisy Strange, Hannah Lea and Kat Petch also hitting the Fareham net.

Cita Haines on target for Trojans [Neil Marshall]

Four goal Zoe Stride led the way as Southampton cushioned the disappointment of their single-goal South League promotion play-off defeat by Amersham & Chalfont with an 8-0 win over Andover.
Southampton never looked back after scoring in the third minute - Ros Wellington finding Lou Hopkins for a deflection past the Andover keeper.
Continuing their pressure, Southampton doubled their lead from an Abi Woodcock penalty corner and before half-time Zoe Stride scored the first of her foursome after an excellent touchline run by Liv O’Mahony to make it 3-0 at half-time.
The second half went much the way of the first with Southampton having the majority of the possession and causing Andover a lot of problems.
Not long into the half, Liv made another excellent run down the left wing this time, cutting into the D slipping the ball passed the keeper to Stride, who slotted the ball once again into the open goal with a diving reverse stick effort.
Keen to maintain the pressure Southampton continued surging forward, this time Sue Merry provided the set up with a diving hit across the goal and Stride picking it out of the air and deflecting it over the line to complete her hat-trick.
Shortly after Merry was in the D, on the attack once again, this time flicking the ball over a defender’s stick for another lovely set up to Stride, who took a touch and then flicked the ball into the net.
After more offensive pressure another penalty corner was awarded to Southampton. A strong slap off the top from Lauren Carter found Merry deflecting the ball in at the back post for her first of the match and a deserved eighth goal.