Whitchurch United 0 Fareham Town 3

WHITCHURCH were beaten beaten for the ninth time this season in the JWL at Longmeadow last Saturday but manager Brian Drury and his assistant Derek Smalley are still confident that they can turn things around.

However, they both know that they are on a hiding to nothing at the moment without any money to spend on players with the quality needed to play in the JWL and that relegation becomes more of a possibility with the passing of each week of the season but neither is going to give up the fight.

"It's hard to ask players to turn out for Whitchurch when they can earn good money working instead," summed up Drury. The Whitchurch boss was missing one of his most experienced recent recruits with midfielder Tony Long opting to work while the loyal Dean Robinson was also unable to start due to work commiments but arrived in time to play in the second half. However, Fareham already had the game won by half time thanks to a stunning nine-minute hat-trick inside the opening half-an-hour from striker Pete Wood.

He netted his first from the penalty spot after just 10 minutes, spectacularly volleyed the second and then wrapped up his second treble in two weeks with a quickly-taken free kick.

Drury admitted that his makeshift side that was also without latest signing Paul Odey started badly and gave away a penalty when they didn't need to. Fareham's second goal came from a wonderful volley and the third goal came while the Whitchurch defence was still trying to line-up a defensive wall for a free kick. "They battered us first half but we turned it round second half yet couldn't score," he added.

Whitchurch did have two strong appeals for a penalty, with Colin Saunders the first to be brought down and Mark Rees for the second, and had a few other chances.

Drury, ever the optimist, is hoping that Odey will soon be available on a regular basis and also hopes to bring in another striker. They had two games in hand on Blackfield & Langley, the team immediately above them in the league table, before Tuesday's trip to title-chasing Lymington & NM and will be hoping to make inroads into a four-point deficit they have to make up starting with this Saturday's away game against Bemerton (3pm).

Whitchurch (4-4-2): Dave Smalley; Rees, Morris, Shaughnessy, Matthews; Restell, Mark Dury, Saunders, Chis Iddles; Monaghan, McLaughlin. Subs: Robinson (for Monaghan 46 mins), Paul Fox (for Matthews 75 mins).