‘We weren’t good enough’ – Fareham’s miserable Wessex League run continues with late loss at Brockenhurst

The hosts - down to 10 men following the dismissal of goalkeeper James Mayo for bringing down Gary Austin, and without 36-goal top scorer Silvano Obeng - snatched the three points thanks to Ben Dukes in the 88th minute.

Trailing at the interval, the Creeksiders had levelled on 77 minutes when Casey Bartlett-Scott netted from the free-kick awarded after Mayo had been dismissed. Sub keeper Matt Taylor’s first job, therefore, was to pick the ball out of the net.

But for the third game running - following on from home losses to Hamble and Alresford - Fareham conceded ‘when we were in the ascendency’ according to boss Pete Stiles.

Defeat was Fareham’s sixth in a dismal seven-game Premier Division spell, with their only point during that run coming in a 3-3 draw at Moneyfields.

It is not the best form to take into Tuesday’s huge Wessex League Cup semi-final against neighbouring AFC Portchester.

‘It wasn’t very good,’ stated Stiles after the latest league reverse.

‘We weren’t good enough. We might have deserved a point, but we didn’t do enough to win.

‘In the first half we were lucky to be only 1-0 down at half-time. It should have been two or three, we rode our luck.

‘Brockenhurst had a few out, they were weaker than usual, it was a good opportunity to go there and win.

‘It would be nice to go to these top teams and show we’re better than our league position says, but at the moment we’re not doing it.’

Stiles had been forced into a first half change when defender Archie Wilcox was forced off with a recurrence of a shoulder problem, Kieran Clark coming on to replace him.

Clark is cup tied for Portchester’s Wessex League Cup visit, though, as is goalkeeper Tom Price.