Expect the unexpected as rivals AFC Portchester and Fareham Town prepare to do battle in second 'El Creekio' derby of the season

AFC Portchester manager Dave Carter confessed he has no idea what version of Fareham Town his side will come up against when the rivals do battle in an 'El Creekio' Hampshire Senior Cup third round derby tomorrow night.
Teenager Harvey Aston continues to impress in the AFC Portchester first-team spotlight. Picture: Daniel HaswellTeenager Harvey Aston continues to impress in the AFC Portchester first-team spotlight. Picture: Daniel Haswell
Teenager Harvey Aston continues to impress in the AFC Portchester first-team spotlight. Picture: Daniel Haswell

Pete Stiles' side head into the cup clash on the back of two very different Wessex League Premier Division results.

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But prior to that the Reds produced one of the Wessex Premier upsets of the season, running out empathic 5-1 winners at previous league leaders Horndean.

Carter, whose Portchester side head into the 'El Creekio' derby on the back of successive victories, admitted the up and down nature of Fareham's past couple of results make it difficult to predict what to expect.

But the Royals boss sees the derby occasion as a big night for both teams, who will be bidding to secure a spot in the quarter-finals of the Hampshire Senior Cup.

Carter said: ‘We don’t know what we’re going to be playing against!

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‘It’s the Hampshire (Senior) Cup third round so it’s a game that’s important to both sides.

‘They call it the ‘El Creekio’ (derby) so it should be good. To be honest, our squad is not that big at the moment, we’ve got Ollie Searle back from Bemerton and he’s come back from a back injury so we’ll look at him.

‘We haven’t got that much to choose from to be honest. I think the game-time the youngsters are getting, they’re getting time, they’re happy with that.

‘Harvey Aston scored the first goal (against Cowes) and set up another for Archie (Greenough) and he got man of the match.’

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The rivals have already met once at The OnSite Group Stadium already this season, with August's early season Wessex Premier meeting ending in a 2-2 draw after Kai Sterne's last-gasp leveller salvaged a point for Stiles side.

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