Fareham arrived at Iffley Road for their first game against the ‘Dark Blues’ boosted by a hard fought win over Amersham & Chalfont in the previous fixture but knowing that the quality of the opposition was improving all the time. Amy Hill and Zoe Stride had not yet recovered from injuries but Katie Paxman and Georgie White were both able to return to action. With Aimee Timms and Jenny Sinclair both unavailable, 2s captain Alice Appleford came into the squad of fourteen players.

This always promised to be a close game and an important one. The home team began the match second in the table whilst the visitors were one place and one point behind.

Fareham settled quickly and had their first opportunity from a penalty corner in the fourth minute. Sarah Atkinson’s shot from the top of the ‘D’ was just outside the post and although Libby White was able to keep the ball in play there was no one able to convert the chance.

The home side responded four minutes later with their first shot which was saved by Sophia Barclay after a dangerous pass from outside the area. Play settled into a pattern for the next fifteen minutes or so. Both teams moved the ball about well and showed the potential to do some damage when moving forward but the defences were well up to the task and cancelled out most of the threats.

OU won their first penalty corner in the 25th minute. The resulting shot was on target and led to an equally good save from Sophia. Three minutes later the students had their best chance of the half but a dangerous pass across the face of goal was out of the reach of the closest forwards and passed harmlessly wide.

It was the turn of Fareham to threaten in the 29th minute. A long pass through the middle set up an opportunity for Sarah Atkinson. However, Ella Downham in the home goal came out quickly to narrow the angle and the shot deflected wide off her pads for a long corner.

The visitor’s ended the half on top, winning two PCs back to back. A cross-shot from Gracie Coleman caused problems but was wide of the far post.

With the score goalless at half-time, the match had proved to be as tight as expected. Fareham had been playing well, identifying the threat from the home side coming forward and doing a good job in snuffing out most of the danger. There was also a suspicion that we could find ways to break through against their defence.

There was no let up in the tension after the break. The first few minutes were short of goalmouth action and at this stage no one would have bet against the game ending 0-0. However the home side was starting to find it harder to fashion good chances and it looked like if anyone was going to break the deadlock then it might be the visitors.

In the 45th minute A good pass into the ‘D’ from Libby White gave Sarah Atkinson a half chance whilst, seconds later, another pass found Leah Payne whose dangerous cross-shot into the ‘D’ just evaded a touch from a teammate which would have opened the scoring.

Two minutes later the home side had their best chance of the half from a PC but once again Sophia Barclay was on hand to save from a close range shot. It was probably their only shot in the second half.

Leah Payne was playing her last game before another spell overseas with the Navy and once again she played very well as an emergency forward. She almost managed to mark the occasion with a goal twenty minutes from the end after she drove into the ‘D’ but the combined efforts of an increasingly worried defence managed to smother the threat before she could shoot.

With twelve minutes to play great work by Izzy Austin and Lois Haigh in the corner of the ‘D’ won the penalty corner which brought the Fareham goal. From the PC the ball was played to Katie Paxman. Her first shot was blocked but her follow up was hit harder and higher. In a crowded area it was LOIS HAIGH who reacted the quickest to get the crucial touch and deflect the ball past the keeper into the goal.

The final dozen minutes was a nervous period with a narrow lead to defend. In fact Fareham did a very good job managing the remainder of the game. They kept possession well and frustrated the opposition. They could even have doubled the lead in the final minute as Izzy and Leah both had chances to score in front of the goal. OU mounted one final attack in the closing seconds but the final whistle blew before they could get near enough to try a shot.

This was an excellent Fareham performance against a good side who showed why they were high in the table. We had the majority of chances and limited the opportunities for the opposition, particularly in the second half. All of this was achieved despite the absence of some very good players.

This was a big game and arguably next week is even bigger as we welcome the current leaders Reading 3s to Henry Cort (13.30) on Saturday with just a point separating the teams.