After the Farnborough game in the first round of qualifying, I promised Megan Averill of Farnham that I’d get to a game at the Memorial Ground in the near future and this seemed  the perfect choice. It’s a ground I’d never been to until today making it my eighth new ground visited this season and a proper old school town centre non-league ground it is too! Why had I not been here before?

The game itself was going to be a challenge for Farnham, a brand new club this season, taking part in the South East Counties Surrey Premier, while their opponents ply their trade a level above in the Southern Region Division One South. So far this season Farnham had won all four league matches while Havant had won two, drawn one and lost one in their first four league games. With both sides in form this looked an intriguing cup tie.

The trip over was uneventful for a change and I arrived at the ground a good hour or so ahead of kick-off which gave me plenty of time for a good look around and a quick catch up with Megan before her warm up started. Add in some food and before too long the teams were in their pre kick off huddles.

The game started in typical cup fashion, end to end with both sides looking to establish superiority. Havant had the first chance with Issy Humphrey bearing down on goal following a nice through ball tried to take it around keeper Emma Stait but she did  just about enough to block the effort and smother the rebound.

At the other end Emma Mutch found space halfway inside the Havant half and slid a great ball through to match the run of Maya Adams whose early shot was saved well by Emily Paines at her near post.

In the 8th minute the home side took the lead. A corner from the right was hit into the near post are where somehow two defenders and the goalkeeper managed not to get a touch, with the ball falling to Megan Averill who made no mistake from close range. 1-0

Two minutes later a slick move with Adams laying on a shooting chance for Emily Foss on the edge of the area where she saw her first time effort get blocked away for another corner. An Efrosyni Theocharous inswinging corner was met by a Foss glancing header with the ball nestling in the far corner. 2-0

Farnham now had their tails up and Mutch had a half chance after being put clear but with two players pressurising, she just couldn’t get the ball out from under her feet and the ball was cleared. The same player picked up a poor clearance from Paines and hit a first time shot from distance only to see it go narrowly wide.

At this point Havat & Waterlooville were really struggling to get going, they were trying to play out from the back but the Farnham high press wasn’t giving them any space or time and their chances to push into the home sides half were few and far between. The did finally break fashion a break with a Millie Underwood run into the box, Anya Kinnane sliding in clipped the forward who didn’t go down but lost control of the ball and the referee pointed to the spot. EJ May took the kick which was saved by Stait but May picked up the rebound and passed the ball into the net. 2-1

Back came Farnham and a throw on the left was flicked on by Caitlin Howard onto Adams and her first time ball along the floor picked out Foss running in but her effort flashed wide of the post. The hosts continued pressing and Adams picked up a loose pass after good pressure from Howard and she launched a beauty into the roof of the net in the 36th minute. 3-1

A lovely Adams pass through the visitors backline found Mutch in space down the right flank. She fired the ball across the six yard box where Howard was waiting but she skied her effort from close in.

H-T: Farnham Town 3 Havant & Waterlooville 1

The second half started off in a more subdued fashion with few chances early on. The closest chance came from a nice link up between Mutch and Howard with the latter firing wide from 25 yards out.

Havant had their first chance of the half when Tia Hooper played a nice one-two and tried to slide it across Stait and into the far corner but under pressure her shot went narrowly wide.

In the 59th minute the home side won another corner after great play from Adams and the impressive Francesca Thornton whose shot was deflected wide. This spelt danger for the visitors as they had not been coping well with set pieces all game. This continued as another inswinger from Theocharous cross was prodded goalwards by defender Chloe Marsh, this was headed off the line but straight to Thornton who poked the ball past Paines and into the corner. 4-1

Howard chased after a long ball over the top controlled well but fired wide of the goal again. Farnham were trying to kill the game off and Adams had a great chance inside the box but Paines narrowed the angle well and pulled off a fine close range save.

At the other end Humphrey shot from the left edge of the box but just got underneath it and lifted it over the bar. Farnham responded again with a header forward from halfway being picked up by Thornton who hit a first time strike which had Paines scrambling but finished just wide of the upright.

In the 80th minute a Phoebe Hamilton strike from the edge of the box into the bottom corner from a nice diagonal pass by Mia Gardner gave Havant a lifeline. 4-2 and game on?

No, because once again Farnham scored two minutes after their opponents reduced the deficit to restore their three goal lead. A nicely weighted pass from Matilda Walker picked out Adams and she beat the onrushing Paines to the ball, knocked it round her and calmly sidefooted into the net from close range for her second of the match. 5-2

Still Havant weren’t going to throw in the towel and in the 89th minute Ali Green provided the finishing touch to a pass across the box to make it 5-3.

To their credit Havant kept pushing in added time but the backline of Farnham held strong to complete an historic win for the club.

F-T: Farnham Town 5 Havant & Waterlooville 3

An impressive team performance throughout for Farnham, Maya Adams the outstanding player, unplayable on the day, but there were also plenty of plaudits for Lilly-May Varney who had a fine game, Francesca Thornton and Efrosyni Theocharous who dominated the midfield for long periods and the defensive three of Averill, Kinnane and Emilie Miller who all blocked, cleared and covered so well all game.

The visitors were undone by their inability to deal with corners on the day but you have to commend them for battling on and still being in with an outside chance at the end.

So Farnham proudly take their place in the first round proper of the FA Cup and will be dreaming of a big name in the draw. Good luck to Farnham in the next round and all the best to both sides for the rest of the season.

Oh and thank you to the superstar that is Rachel for the delicious bacon roll and chips before the game!

To see James Prickett’s fantastic photo gallery from the game just click on the button below.


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