‘Heart pounding’ entertainment as Fareham are held by Ashmoor in frenetic Henry Cort stalemate

George Davey, right, scored for Fareham in their 2-2 West Conference draw with Devonians Ashmoor. Picture: Dave Haines

Fareham twice took the lead against Ashmoor - but had to be content with a share of the spoils after a fast and frenetic West Conference affair ended 2-2.

The slippery Henry Cort surface was perfect for a fast and furious game, punctuated by yellow cards, with the result in doubt until the final play when Fareham were unable to cash in on a penalty corner.

Fareham lit the fuse with a first minute goal – James Seager, back in midfield despite long-standing Achilles problems, bursting out of defence before feeding Alex Boxall, whose low ball into the goalmouth was deflected home by George Davey.

The lead didn’t last long.

Playing with pace and transferring the ball effectively, Ashmoor – denied by one fine short corner save by Rory Kemp – equalised ten minutes later through Morgan Stokes.

The fast and frenetic action predictably led to some over-zealous challenges – stronger umpiring from the outset might have prevented negative reactions from both sets of players, which escalated issues.

Fareham, down to nine men at one point, had Shane Vincent and Niall Stott binned – the Scotsman was also green carded twice, culminating in the side playing short for 14 minutes.

Ashmoor, from Devon, had three players yellow carded.

Fareham manager Malc Davies reflected: “There is still no excuse for dissent and is unacceptable in my mind.

“It just never has a positive outcome or influence on the game.”

Nonetheless, it led to a very watchable game, with some often chaotic and frantic goalmouth scrambles as play swung at pace from end to end.

Davies confessed: ‘My heart pounds in games like these, knife edges where either team could have won it, particularly in the last few minutes.’

Fareham restored their lead 12 minutes into the third quarter with a Vincent penalty corner – his third success of the season – but Ashmoor’s response was immediate with Lewis Hammett equalising straight from the restart.

Surprisingly, it remained 2-2 with Fareham wasting an opportunity to snatch victory when they forced a penalty corner in final play.

The draw leaves Fareham in second place in the log, three points behind Bristol University, who made it five wins from six, beating winless Cheltenham 3-1.