Fareham ladies in double fightbacks

Fareham ladies have conceded their 100 per cent record, but they remain unbeaten and lead the South Central Women’s Premier Division by three points from Bournemouth, who have played one match more.
But they fell behind in their last two matches, initially to Henley, whom they went on to beat 4-1, and then Amersham & Chalfont, who carved out a two-nil lead before Fareham hit back to preserve their unblemished record.
Fareham spent the bulk of the first half trailing to a ninth minute strike by Henley’s Jane Dench, but head coach Steve Lemon [left] had to tweak his motivational Churchillian half-time team talk after Laura Anning equalized from a penalty corner deflection moments before the break.
Whatever Lemon said did the trick because Fareham scored three second half goals through Sarah Johns, Rebecca Reaveal and Poppy Roddis to win 4-1 and make it eight wins in a row.
Lemon really did have to perform his touchline magic at Amersham, where the unbeaten leaders trailed 2-0 minutes into the second half and were facing their first defeat of the season.
Twice Fareham conceded from short corners, the first by Helene Gosden and then Holly Levine, but bounced back and clawed a goal back through Aimee Timm and later equalised when Gracie Coleman started and finished a 56th minute move to make it 2-2.
Coach Lemon reflected: “The draw gave our main rivals the opportunity to close the gap a little in the league table. Despite this we are still in a good position, with three points more than Bournemouth (who have played a game more) and a lead of six and seven points respectively over Oxford Hawks 2s and Marlow, who will both still have a big say in events at the top of the table.”
Fareham’s Hampshire rivals Southampton, Trojans and Havant all face a new year battle for survival, with basement girls Havant yet to gain a point.

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