Fareham have seldom managed to squeeze a shot past Simon Mason, the former Great Britain goalkeeper, in the past – so to beat him four times on the way to an impressive 4-1 win at Guildford was a real bonus.

At over 6ft 5in tall, Mason is an imposing presence in the Guildford goal, but the former Olympians’ seemingly previous invincibility between the posts when Fareham come calling was shattered within the opening four minutes at Broadwater.

Teenager Luke Cornish and James Seager both scored to set Fareham up for a third win of the season – one which has propelled them into nosebleed territory, third in the NOW: Pensions Western Conference.

Fareham were in front straight from the push-back – Seager’s pinpoint pass picking out the 17-year old Cornish unmarked at the top of the D.

The Barton Peveril student coolly went round Mason to give Fareham a dream start.

Three minutes later Fareham, who have now won three of their five matches, doubled their lead.

Alex Boxall snapped up a stray Guildford pass and sent a long, raking aerial pass into the path of Seager, who drilled a first-time shot past Mason – before the Surrey hosts had even launched an attack of their own !

Fareham continued to dominate play for the remainder of the half and extended their lead two minutes before the break.

Neat interplay between Chris Davey and Jon Potts left Mason exposed –and the one-time England goal minder was left with little option but to impede Davey and conceded a penalty stroke, which Boxall gleefully tucked away.

To add to Guildford’s misery, they too won a penalty stroke from a short corner – but Mohammed Rahman sent his shot wide of George Harris’s goal.

Four minutes after the break, Fareham settled it once and for all.

The fourth goal came from a short corner – Jamie Rawlins slipping the ball across for Seager to slide home a deflection.

Guildford pressed for the remainder of the second half, but their solitary reward came in the 55th minute through Tom Herring.

Fareham defended well and, frustratingly, wasted three further opportunities to stretch their lead.

A delighted Fareham coach Ben Barnes said: “Any win in this league is good, but we were without our two main strikers, Ben Hibberd and Josh Godfrey, which made our success even sweeter.

“The team did what they had to do on the pitch to earn three valuable points – and it was especially pleasing for the forwards.

“On a disappointing note, we sat back in the second half and did not retain possession very well and gave too many penalty corners away as a consequence.

“Against a team with a better penalty corner routine we would have been made to pay, so there is still a lot for us to work on if we are to progress.’’ Former Fareham player/coach Shaun Baker scored one of the goals as Team Bath Buccaneers bowled Cardiff & Met off the top of the Western Conference table with a 2-0 victory.