Fareham hit back but take early cup Bath

Predator Martin Gough [Neil Marshall]

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Skipper Martin Gough led the way as Fareham wiped out a 4-1 half-time deficit to peg Team Bath 4-4 by the final whistle – only to bow out of England Hockey’s Tier 1 Cup in a penalty shoot out.
Head coach Ben Barnes conceded that, despite a fine Jack Gilbert goal set up by George Davey, Fareham had not had a good opening 35 minutes.
“But the second half was much better. We stepped up and pulled our fingers out, with Goughie scoring a great deflection from a Gilbert cross to get us going early on in the period,” he said.
Gough stole in for a good near post goal for his second and Jamie Rawlings drag flick from a penalty corner to make it 4-4 took the tie to penalties.
“It was nothing more than we deserved,” added Barnes. “I was very proud of our second half performance. Penalties are always a bit of a lottery.
“Extra time would have been interesting so it was a shame we did not have that.”
Fareham seconds lie in a comfortable mid-table position in Hampshire/Surrey Regional 1 after 4-1 wins over Sunbury & Walton Hawks and Barnes, respectively.
Teenage ace Kieran Page, the injury prone Phil Larcombe and Paul Metcalf put Sunbury to bed, while Peruvian Sebastian Dennison, Fergus Jackson, Paul Metcalf, Aidan Paige (Kieran’s brother) scored against Barnes.