Boss Stiles has no idea what to expect from ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ Fareham Town

If it’s goals you want, then the Creeksiders are undoubtedly the team to go and watch. Not just locally, not even regionally, but nationally.

Their 21 Wessex League matches this season have produced an astonishing total of 117 at an average of 5.57 per game.

That’s the second highest across the 14 step 5 divisions of the English non-league pyramid.

It’s been a similar story in knockout action as well, with Tuesday’s rollercoaster 6-4 Wessex League Cup win over lower tier Downton taking Fareham’s total tally to 44 in 10 cup ties.

Overall, that means their 31 competitive games in 2021/22 have produced 161 goals at an average of 5.19. Or, put another way, roughly one every 18 minutes.

‘We don’t do 0-0s - we either hammer someone or we get hammered’ quipped Stiles, and the record books bear that out.

Goalless stalemates are fairly rare at Wessex League level anyway, but it’s been 87 league and cup games since Fareham were last involved in one - against Andover New Street in March 2019.

This season they have scored five or more goals in a game 11 times - 35 per cent of their fixtures - while conceding four or more on seven occasions.

On the plus side, they have hammered Hythe 8-0, Amesbury 8-0, Street (FA Cup) 8-0, Harvest (Portsmouth Senior Cup) 8-0, Hythe 7-0, Christchurch 7-1 and 6-2 and US Portsmouth 6-1.

The ‘Mr Hyde’ side of their character, though, have produced defeats against Portland 3-7, AFC Stoneham 1-6, Shaftesbury 0-5, Brockenhurst 1-5 and Abbey Rangers (FA Vase) 3-5.

‘I don’t know what I’m going to get each game,’ Stiles told The News in the aftermath of the Downton win, where his side trailed twice early on before twice conceding the lead in the second half ahead of netting twice more late on to reach the semi-finals.

‘A lot of that’s down to me, because I put the team out.’

Asked if he’d enjoyed the Downton tie, Stiles replied: ‘No. Well you wouldn’t, would you?

‘They (Downton) were as game as you like, they certainly had a go at us with four up front. But I was pleased we kept going after they kept coming back at us.

‘We gifted them a few goals. The keeper (Declan McCarthy) has held his hands up for the first one, he thought it was going wide, but we didn’t track runners from midfield for two of the goals.

‘You can talk about the defence but if you don’t track the midfield runners, that’s where the problem lies.’

Told that his side are one of non-league football’s great entertainers, Stiles replied: ‘It doesn’t surprise me.

‘We could do with being a bit less cavalier, but it’s nice that people go away having enjoyed our games. That’s what it’s about.’

Stiles believes there are mitigating factors behind his team’s astonishing goals record - including injuries, unavailabilities, using too many goalkeepers, and a packed fixture list.

Tuesday’s cup tie against Downton was Fareham’s 13th midweek game of a 2021/22 season that began in early August. It was, as mentioned before, their 31st competitive fixture of the campagn - in 2019/20 it took until January 28 for the Reds to play that many matches.

‘The league have crammed too many games in,’ Stiles remarked, believing a hectic programme has contributed to his injury list. ‘I know they are worried that the league will get cut short again (due to Covid), but what about the welfare of the players? They’re not professionals.

‘It’s been Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday almost every week - we’ve played a hell of a lot of games.’

Stiles added: ‘It doesn’t help either when you’ve used six keepers in half a season, and I’m now fishing around for another one. Dec McCarthy has done well but can’t commit, Jon Webb’s a good keeper but can’t commit, Dan Kempson has been injured, Luke Douglas is injured, Dan Rigby is in the Navy.

‘I’ve hardly selected the same back four all season. Against Downton was the nearest I’ve come to selecting the same team, and I still made two changes.’

He will have to make more for this weekend’s home Wessex League clash with title-hopefuls Hamworthy United. Armed Forces trio Stuart Morgan, Elliott Holmes and Ross Kidson are all unavailable, while Charlie Cooper, Garry Moody and Dan Bennett remain injured, Ryan Mackney is suspended and Calum Benfield is unavailable.

Stiles summed up: ‘That’s a lot of players, and a lot of them would normally start.’

Asked if he would prefer to win 1-0 or 2-1 than 4-3 or 6-4, he replied: ‘Of course, I want us to stop conceding goals. But until we get the issues we’ve got sorted it’ll probably carry on like that.’

Fareham will do well to remain free scoring on Saturday – Hamworthy have only conceded 11 goals in 19 league games, easily the best defensive record in the Wessex Premier. Horndean, Brockenhurst and Shaftesbury - all 22 – are next best.