Fareham Town 4 Alresford Town 1: FAREHAM’S Creeksiders strolled to a comfortable victory over the Magpies at Cams Alders on Saturday afternoon – leaving Alresford up the creek without a paddle in their bid to avoid relegation to Sydenhams Division 1.

The omens had been encouraging for Alresford, who won last month’s reverse fixture 2-1. They had produced good performances in their last two games, against Sholing and Salisbury, and a continuation of that form could have seen them end their losing run of seven league games.

But Fareham were sharper in the tackle, quicker to 50-50 balls, and were more creative in difficult conditions – a hard, bumpy pitch and a strong wind. In the end, the hosts thoroughly deserved their victory.

Ex-AFC Portchester striker Simon Woods was a constant threat to the visitors with his intelligent running through the inside-left channel, and had a hand in the first three of his side’s goals. The first came on ten minutes. Woods made ground down the middle and then held the ball up, laying it off to Liam Kimber – whose shot found the bottom right corner of the net.

A second goal followed on 41 minutes. A spell of Fareham pressure ended with an inswinging Josh Taylor cross from the right, Woods darting in to get a slight touch as the ball passed John Howard to nestle in the far corner.

Alresford had had few chances in the first half. John Mulhern beat his marker well with a flick, enabling him to bear down on goal, but Luke Douglas plucked his chip out of the air. Mulhern broke through again just before Fareham’s second goal, but opted to square the ball rather than shoot, and the chance melted away.

With the wind now behind them, the Magpies aimed to cash in after the break. And if Jack Goodship’s volley on the turn flown just beneath the bar rather than skimming off its upper edge, that might just have happened. But on 51 minutes Woods reduced their defence to tatters again with a run from the halfway line and neat finish.

Alresford’s agony continued. On 58 minutes Ash Tattersall got the better of Howard in the air from Taylor’s free kick to nod the Creeksiders’ fourth.

The visitors fought on, but their plans were disrupted further by an injury to substitute Rian Jima-Otero. He limped off injured after only 20 minutes on the field. Sam Carter pulled a goal back in injury time with a neat finish from a tight angle after good work by Tom Donaldson. But that was never going to be more than a consolation for a side who are low on confidence and desperately in need of a spark to ignite their spirits.