Fareham in six-goal salvo - again !

Josh Steel (above) cuts to the right-hand baseline, while (right) Chris Davey pokes home a rebound to score Fareham's fourth goal. Tom Larcombe (10) remains poised. Steve Godwin pictures.

​Fareham have gone goal happy after scoring six times in each of their opening West Conference victories.
They followed up a 6-1 win at Cardiff University with an impressive 6-2 defeat of visiting Cheltenham, who were rocked by three Fareham goals inside four minutes early in the third quarter.
Portsmouth Grammar School’s Alex Beckett, who scored twice in Cardiff, set it up with two goals in the opening 15 minutes.
The tall slim striker gleefully accepted an easy fifth minute tap in but, after Richard Owen had equalised, he out-foxed several defenders on the shoulder of the circle before hammering a shot past goalkeeper Sam Cathie.
Fareham took their 2-1 advantage into the interval break – immediately after which two incidents  swung the match in their favour.
                                                                                 Individualist
First Rory Kemp made a point blank save from a short corner breakdown to deny Chris Laird a potential equaliser, then in a clinical counter-attack the teenage Phil Larcombe drove from the 25 yard line and beat several defenders before sending a shot on the turn screaming past Cathie.
It was a fine individual goal – one which Fareham followed up with two more in quick succession from Chris Davey and Shane Vincent.
Denied at the first attempt, Davey made it 4-1 before Vincent converted Fareham’s second set piece to add a fifth.
Whilst Fareham dominated possession, Cheltenham remained a threat on the counter – Owen keeping their faint hopes alive from a penalty corner.
Subsequent Fareham attacks saw Larcombe denied by an outstretched goalkeeper’s boot and Davey have a second disallowed after an off-target shot by Josh Steel had been deemed dangerous.
Facing a second consecutive defeat (Harborne beat them 2-1 on the opening day), Cheltenham refused to throw in the towel and on three separate occasions Kemp denied them.
But in the final play it was Fareham who added to their tally, with Saints fan Sam Ratliffe (pictured left) celebrating his debut National League goal.  
A mass goalmouth scramble ensured after the Cheltenham goal-line had blocked Vincent’s penalty corner, but Ratliffe somehow found a gap to poke the ball in for Fareham’s sixth.  "I felt like Danny Ings," the Barton Peveril College teen said after,
Chichester twice equalised through Rannoch Foster and Cam Ryall at Coombe Down, but were eventually beaten 3-2 by Bristol University.

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