Fareham Batten down three point lead

​Fareham’s polished penalty corner routine culminated in six of the goals in their 7-1 win over previously unbeaten Lewes coming from set pieces.
Heather Batten [left] led the way with another four goals and is already on the way to winning a magnum of champagne presented to Fareham’s Player of the Month, an award generously sponsored by head coach Steve Lemon. 
A goal up inside seven minutes through Laura Pendleton, Fareham controlled the game from the outset and were 2-0 ahead soon after when the goalscorer turned provider for a Batten deflection. 2-0.
Batten got her second and Fareham’s third after beating two defenders and the Lewes goalkeeper. Lewes hit the Fareham woodwork from a short corner but by half-time were four-down through Hannah Simon.
Laura Molloy clawed a goal back for Lewes but by the final whistle had seen red, having previously picked up green and yellow cards.
Fareham lost the initiative for a while, but midway through the second half women’s cricket ace Sian Edwards made it 5-1 from another penalty corner.
Two more goals by Heather Batten – both deflected finishes from Pendleton shots – completed the rout – and sent Steve Lemon hop footing to the grog store for that champagne.
The victory leaves Fareham three points clear at the top of South Women’s League Division 3B – local rivals Southampton having conceded their unbeaten start to Barnes, who inched a 2-1 win at Dukes Meadow.
Barnes broke the deadlock after a goal-less first half with a Madi Clark strike, but Southampton kept their patience and equalised from a well worked penalty corner routine through Nat Romain.
With five minutes left, Barnes broke and Jade Marshall-Walker got the winner from an attacking overload.

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