Pete Stiles 'sorry' for Fareham Town's strong support following as record Wessex League Cup final crowd watch Shaftesbury take the trophy

The Reds' 2-1 defeat to Shaftesbury on the showpiece occasion at AFC Portchester's On-Site Group Stadium saw a record attendance of 832 for a Wessex League Cup final.

The vast majority of those in the ground we cheering on Fareham, although they went away having watched their team go down against the Dorset club who finished third in the final Wessex Premier table.

Frustratingly for the Reds, it continued an unwanted record of having gone some 29 years since their last trophy win - the Hampshire Senior Cup success achieved by the club back in 1993.

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Stiles told The News: ‘I just feel so sorry for all the supporters who we had there that we couldn't deliver it. Moving forward, I'm sure there will be other days, I'm sure there will be other occasions, but I'm bitterly disappointed. I couldn't ask for no more from the lads, they gave it everything they had.

‘They'd (Shaftesbury) beaten us 5-0 and 4-0 during the season so for it to be one goal (margin of defeat in final meeting) - there wasn't much in it.

‘We had chances early on where we could have almost been out of sight of them, we didn't take them, then it comes back to haunt you.’

Things started so well for Fareham who took the lead on 15 minutes with Casey Bartlett-Scott on hand to slide home.

But Shaftesbury would come battling back, levelling things up through Ash Pope after 27 minutes. The killer blow would then come with 21 minutes of normal time remaining when Asa Phillips found the net to win it for Shaftesbury.

*It was the cup final which never promised to be a dull affair.

Fareham Town and Shaftesbury entered the Wessex League Cup final having blasted an astonishing 317 goals between them in 106 league and cup matches in 2021/22.

Throughout the 16 divisions of step 5 football in England, only Southern Combination champions and FA Vase finalists Littlehampton (130) had scored more than Shaftesbury’s 126 league goals.

Fareham, despite only finishing 12th in the Wessex Premier, were the seventh highest step 5 scorers in the country with 113 goals. Pete Stiles’ great entertainers were only two away from conceding a century as well.

In all competitions, Shaftesbury had plundered 169 goals in 54 first team fixtures this season, while Fareham’s tally was 148 in 52 games.

Between them, that worked out at a goal every half hour. So, on paper, it would be a 3-3 draw in the final at AFC Portchester’s On-Site Group Stadium.

In reality, though, it was Shaftesbury who came from behind to win 2-1. It was the third win over Fareham this season and - following 5-0 and 4-0 league romps - easily the toughest.

The north Dorset club ended the season having scored four or more goals on 22 occasions in league and cup action.

Three players netted 20 or more times, with two of them on target against Fareham.

Asa Phillips netted his 35th goal of the campaign with former AFC Bournemouth youngster Ash Pope hitting his 25th.

Aiden Shepherd finished with 20 while Luke Burbidge - man of the match in the Wessex Cup final - ended with 16. Luke Delaney (15), Cameron Beard (14) and ex-Horndean attacker Greg Peel (13) completed the seven-strong list of Shaftesbury players in double figures.

Both Pope and Delaney had played for Rockies boss Ollie Cherrett during his time at Christchurch. Cherrett quit Priory in the wake of the club deciding not to accept promotion to the Southern League last summer.

Phillips, though, was signed from Dorset League club Merley Cobham Sports, where he had averaged more than a goal a game over the two pandemic-scarred seasons.