Fareham return to form with easy Lymington win
By Connor Steel
FAREHAM TOWN returned back into a winning from in the ‘Wessex Premier‘ as they hosted Lymington Town at Cams Alders on Tuesday evening; comfortably sealing a four-one home victory over their struggling opponents and ending a two match losing streak after the planned encounter against Portland United was postponed due to traffic on Saturday.
Under chilly skies it was the Creeksiders who dominated the early chances; Joe Ryan firing straight at the away keeper following a rapid counter attack before Keiron Clark nodded over a fine corner after ten minutes. In response a younger Lymington team did win a couple of set-pieces that resulted in their first opening; Toby Colmer dragging wide of the net.
The hosts made their crucial breakthrough on 19 minutes as they won a dangerous free kick for a harsh handball; Sam Kessack receiving a short pass and advancing towards the line before floating a flick pass to Curt Robbins who blasted home. And it should have been two minutes later as the 2 strikers linked up again; the former’s drive blocked at source.
Further opportunities were missed by Kessack and Clark either side of the ‘half hour’ mark; the Lymington keeper Chris Raven impressing the home fans with some good diving saves. An injury stoppage then followed due to a nasty looking clash of heads with the away team seeing Richard Bakary and Colmer going close with varying efforts before half time.
Graham Rix’s side restarted the second period with increased pressure and reaped their reward as Ethan Jones flicked a pass into the path of Ryan; the attacker reaching Kessack who made little errors in tapping home. But the momentum saw a small lull as Lewis Colvin and Harry Yates both went down with nasty injuries, forcing tweaks from both benches.
To their credit Lymington never gave up and did fight their way back into proceedings after 57 minutes; an easy overlap allowing Colmer to guide home a good cross from 12 yards with time to spare. Further changes signalled another large lull in the match but this ended with around twenty minutes left; Tom Man beating the home backline but just firing over.
Despite looking threatening in attack Lymington’s defenders began to tire out and this was evident on 81 minutes when Fareham added a crucial third goal; Robbins converting a powerful volley into the corner after a pinball in the area. And the fourth arrived in added time with Robbins sealing his treble by floating home a great header from Matt Pates’ cross.
The two teams are scheduled to meet yet again on September 23 for their big FA Vase encounter; but all of Fareham’s attentions continue to be focused on the league with just five games played so far this campaign. The team will next be playing Hythe & Dibden away from home this Saturday (September 16); whilst there could be another match for 19/09.
PICTURED BY FAREHAM TOWN: Away defenders run back in their attempts to stop Creeksiders from scoring the 4th.
