Havant Ladies II 2 Alton Ladies I 4: ALTON got off to a great start against a side sitting close to the bottom of the table.

Charlotte Carter’s creative aerial found Violet Eames down the right wing. Eames drove into the D, put the ball on a defender’s foot and won the penalty corner which Carter dispatched with a clever drag flick.

Moments later Gemma Footit scorched down the right and fired a square pass into the D where captain Naomi Jones deflected the ball home.

Going 2-0 down seemed to spur Havant into action, and they created some successful overloads going forward and clawed a goal back before half-time.

Havant were quicker out of the blocks and levelled the score with 15 minutes to go.

A long period of hustle and hard work, plus some fantastic midfield work from Kate Vearncombe and Arian Hawkins, saw both sides try to break the deadlock. Eventually Jones pressed high to win the ball and fed Eames who scored her second from a tight angle.

Moments later Jones won another penalty corner and Carter secured the points with a well-placed strike.

This weekend Alton host league contenders Trojans at home.

Alton Ladies II 8 Fareham Ladies III 1: AN IMPRESSIVE performance leaves Alton sitting top of the table with just three games to go.

Having had a break in fixtures last week, Alton were keen to get back to their impressive winning streak and were back at home for a top-of-the-table clash against Fareham. With both teams on equal points, it was set to be a good match.

Having beaten Fareham 2-0 earlier in the season, Alton came out confidently and from the off put the visitors’ defence under intense pressure.

It took just six minutes for the home team to score their first goal, Vicky Small’s pass finding Maddy Ripton Palmer unmarked at the top of the D where she cleanly struck to score her first of four goals.

Encouraged by the positive start, Alton kept a high press. Captain Becky Smith won a short corner which was cleanly dispatched with a straight strike by Louise Yeadon.

Just a minute later, young forward Kizzy Maddock picked up a clearance from Mairead Cooney out of defence, and ran the entire length of the pitch, beating several defenders, to score after a brilliant run.

Fareham quickly lost their structure and discipline and just two minutes later, Maddock linked up with Ripton-Palmer, rounding the keeper to score her second.

From the re-start Maddock and Ripton-Palmer once again used their pace and skill to easily beat the more mature Fareham defence, duplicating the goal two minutes earlier with Maddy putting the home side 5-0 up.

Fareham continued to fight and it took some brilliant keeping from birthday girl Ellie Dale to keep the ball out.

Despite some excellent defending by Yeadon, Cooney and Megan Southgate, the ball eventually found an Alton foot and a short corner was awarded. An impressive strike by Fareham was deflected up off an Alton stick into the roof of the net with Dale left helpless.

Fareham came out in the second half a lot stronger, but the home side were determined to score more goals with Kat Gilbert distributing the ball beautifully from midfield for the forwards to continue making impressive runs.

Autumn Lloyd, Henna Wong and Amelia Betts worked hard in midfield to turn over the increasing number of Fareham attacks.

It took 15 minutes before Alton managed to score their sixth goal with a role reversal from the first half, with Ripton Palmer drawing the keeper to one side, then slipping the ball to Maddock on the far post to score her second.

Just two minutes later Alton were on the attack again with Maddy crossing to find Hannah Davies waiting to deflect the ball into the net for Alton’s seventh goal.

Another five minutes of end-to-end play ensued before Kat Gilbert sent in a pinpoint pass for Palmer to score her fourth.

Hamble Ladies II 1 Alton Ladies III 2: AFTER a hard fought and tense 0-0 draw at home earlier in the season, a young Alton side travelled to Hamble fully expecting a tough contest – they were not disappointed.

Alton applied immediate pressure but soon after a big drive from Hamble saw the tables quickly turned and the visiting defence being tested.

With a growing level of control Alton gained the upper hand in midfield. All the work in training was paying off as short and long passes linked well and Alton spent more time at the Hamble end.

After 15 minutes, another cross from Jenny Footit found Ellie Woodfine in position to knock in the first goal for Alton.

Winning more short and long corners, Hamble were getting closer to scoring but a determined defence, bolstered by in-form keeper Izzy Jinadasa, kept Hamble at bay.

And shortly before half-time another excellent break forced an opportunity for Jenny Footit to grab Alton’s second goal.

Hamble made changes after the break and were much stronger in attack and Alton had to fight hard.

Their pressure continued until they switched tactics again on a short corner and managed to squeeze in their first goal.

From that point the contest opened up again, both sides finding fluency at the same time to create an exciting and nerve-racking end-to-end game.

With plenty of near misses and goalmouth clearances at both ends, tensions were running high and both sides fought hard for the critical next goal to either level or decide the match.

Time eventually ran out for Hamble and an elated Alton claimed the vital three points to move into second place in the league, overtaking Hamble, and ensuring the season goes right to the wire.

With three games to go, only three points separate second to fourth place in the table.