Game 31: Fareham Town 1.1 Hamble ASSC (Abandoned h/t) (WESS PREM) 27.12.10

I hadn't planned to go to a game today and looking at the forecast it seemed unlikely that any would survive the weather. Paul then called to offer a lift to Fareham as he had called the club and received a positive response that their game against Hamble would be on. Sounded like a plan so we were soon heading down the motorway to Fareham via the back streets of Salisbury to avoid some big traffic queues. After a quick stop for petrol and a minor detour around the backstreets we arrived in plenty of time for the 3pm kickoff.

I haven't been to Cams Alders for a few years now but the ground didn't appear to have changed since my last visit for a Gosport derby back in the 2003-4 season. There is a big stand from the Southern League days which is some distance from the pitch. Next to it a food stand was doing good business as people arrived.

The start of the first half was a fairly bad tempered affair. This was started by a very late tackle by the Hamble captain in the 10th minute which deserved a red card and he was lucky only to be shown a yellow by the referee. The same player blasted the ball at a Hamble player behind the referee's back after conceding a corner that would have lead to a red card if the unsporting gesture had been spotted by an official.

Fareham's supporters were aggrieved by this injustice but were cheered up from this corner as their team took the lead. The ball was played into the area and a centreback rose up to loop a header over the defence and keeper and into the net. Fareham almost added a second goal moments later when one of their players went through on goal and it took a last ditch sliding tackle to steer the ball out of danger.

Hamble started to play football and worked their way back into the game with a well taken equaliser, again from a header following a corner. They almost took the lead in the last minute of the half when the ball was steered past the keeper from the edge of the area but the ball didn't have enough pace to make it over the line before a defender could get back to clear it.

A couple of floodlights on the far side had come on during the first half and I hadn't paid too much attention to the others, assuming that someone would wander round and turn them on for the second half. However it turned out that they were on the same circuit and all the lights should have been on earlier.

One of the substitutes was talking to a friend in the crowd and suggested that the game may have to be called off as the referee had asked for all the lights to be on before he could start the half. Given the deepening gloom around the ground this was the only practical option but there didn't appear to be anyone actually working to try and fix the problem.

The referee came onto the pitch with the managers and confirmed he was happy to wait until 4.15 to see if it could be fixed. The lights were turned on and off several times but to no avail and as the spectators stood around, the decision was made to call the game off. I watched one customer walk up to the pay booth to demand a refund only to be given short shrift. There seemed little point in requesting the same so we made our way out of the ground and back to the car feeling disappointed with the whole situation.

From doing some research after the game it appears that Fareham have had problems with their lights failing earlier this season. Most clubs would issue a voucher for reduced / free admission to the replay if a game is called off before the second half starts. In the absence of this basic courtesy I couldn't recommend a visit to this ground unless you could be sure that floodlights would not required at any point!