Fareham held in ten-goal thriller

​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.

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