ALRESFORD were cruelly denied their first point of the season by a deflected goal ten minutes from time after a stirring second-half comeback at Fareham last Tuesday night.

With the wind at their backs Fareham had looked the better side in the first half. They took the lead on nine minutes, Ryan Lock converting Wayne Boud's cross at the far post after the Magpies defence had gone AWOL.

Alresford almost equalised when Stu Findlay's mis-hit shot fell to Andy Jacob, but home keeper James Bosbury saved with his feet. The hosts capitalised by doubling their advantage on 34 minutes, the impressive Boud the scorer after a slick interchange of passes involving Lock and Gary Austin.

James Searle's long-range scorcher skidded off the Alresford bar at the end of the first half, but the break saw a turnabout in the balance of play. It was Alresford, with subs Marc-Juan Pascual and James Wilkinson prominent, who dictated the pace.

The Magpies pulled it back to 2-1 on 50 minutes when Pascual completed a well-constructed move with a neat pass to Martin Rogers, who finished clinically. Wilkinson nearly made it 2-2 straight afterwards, and Findlay headed just over as the visitors pressed for the equaliser.

Alresford were rewarded midway through the second half when Rogers evaded a tackle on the bye-line and sent over a low cross for Matt Rackham to side-foot home.

After that there was plenty of good end-to-end football with both sides searching for the winner. But it was the home side who pocketed all three points when Lock's drive took a wicked deflection, leaving Dan Chapman a helpless spectator as the ball rolled into the opposite side of the net.

Rackham almost snatched another equaliser with a low drive that Bosbury smothered well, but 3-2 was how it remained. As Alresford lick their wounds they can take heart from the fact that they were by no means outclassed in this match and can go into their first-ever FA Cup tie, away to Harrow Hill this Saturday, with a measure of confidence.

GREG BOUGHTON