Gary Austin brings up Fareham Town goals century as Reds rewrite record book with 12-2 hammering of Wessex League strugglers Amesbury

The Reds romped to a startling 12-2 Wessex League Premier Division success against the rock bottom Wiltshire outfit who only had the bare 11 players.

It was the most goals Fareham have scored in a league game since entering the Wessex in 1998.

It was also the highest total by any team in the Wessex since Portland also thrashed Amesbury by the same score in 2019/20.

Gary Austin’s four goal show in the first half saw him become only the 10th Fareham player to reach a century for the club.

In addition, Jack Breed scored a remarkable hat-trick - a ‘perfect’ treble of right foot, left foot and header, and against THREE different goalkeepers.

Without a recognised keeper, Amesbury started off with striker Josh Carey in goal. After conceding six times, he was replaced at half-time by Sidney Miles.

The score had advanced to 9-2 when Will Erdine became the third Amesbury keeper of the afternoon.

Erdine subsequently conceded the 155th, 156th and 157th goals of his club’s torrid league season - the worst Wessex Premier defensive record since Petersfield conceded 170 in 2017/18.

Charlie Cooper bagged a double with defender Archie Willcox - his 15th goal of the campaign - and sub Dan Bennett also on the scoresheet. Fareham’s dozen was completed by a Billy Drever own goal.

The spree took Fareham’s league tally to 19 in just five days, following a 7-0 home win over Cowes. Though they are 12th in the table, they have now struck 112 times in the Wessex Premier this campaign, the second highest total after Shaftesbury (121).

'I've got to say, I did feel for Amesbury,’ said Reds boss Pete Stiles. ‘They came down with the bare 11, one of their players and a manager were running it, they had no physio and an outfield player who went in goal.

'Although we scored 12 goals, take out of it what you will, you've still got to put the ball in the net.

'But we've let in two goals - I went nuts - I can understand you let in one because you get caught, but once you've let in one you don't do it again.

‘I wasn't very happy with that … but having said that, how can you moan when you score 12 goals?

'I had to feel for them, fair play to them for coming down, a lot of teams would have tried to find an excuse not to turn up. At least they came down and got on with it. I'm full of praise for them for doing that - a lot of teams wouldn't.'

The goal avalanche started after 11 minutes when Drever could only divert a Cooper cross into his own net.

Austin, who hadn’t scored since netting in a 3-3 draw at Alton on his 350th Fareham appearance in January, opened his account nine minutes later.

Breed got in on the act on 25 minutes before Austin completed a 23-minute hat-trick. He wasn't done there, though, adding his fourth and the Reds’ sixth before the interval. His final goal was his 100th for the club.

Harrison Yeaton pulled a goal back for Amesbury minutes after the restart but Cooper hammered home to make it 7-1 on 54 minutes.

The goals kept coming but, rather surprisingly, the visitors grabbed a second through Scott Hassell.

Cooper bagged his second from the penalty spot after Josh Benfield had been upended in the area.

Breed drove home to make it 9-2 with 19 minutes of normal time remaining and Bennett made it double digits.

There was still time for Willcox to head home and Breed to complete his treble with a header.

This wasn’t Fareham’s record margin of victory in the Wessex League, though; it only equalled their 10-0 thrashing of Ringwood in February 2008. Austin, with a brace, was on target that day as well.

It wasn’t anywhere near the club’s all-time record league win either - that remains an 18-0 annihilation of Portsmouth Electric in a Portsmouth League fixture in 1948/49.

And it also wasn’t the first time Austin had struck four times in a Wessex game – he first did that for Horndean at Brading Town.

Having scored a century of league goals, Fareham now need to avoid conceding three figures. With one game remaining, they have shipped 96 goals. And their final match? Away to champions Hamworthy United …