Which Reds side will turn up for ‘El Creekio’?

AFC Portchester manager Dave Carter confessed he has no idea what version of Fareham Town his side will come up against when the rivals do battle in an 'El Creekio' Hampshire Senior Cup third round derby tonight.

Pete Stiles' side head into the cup clash on the back of two very different Wessex League Premier Division results.

Fareham were thumped 7-3 at home by Portland after having Ryan Mackney sent-off – a decision which enraged boss Stiles – on Saturday.

But prior to that the Reds produced one of the Wessex Premier upsets of the season, running out 5-1 winners at previous league leaders Horndean.

Carter, whose Portchester side head into the 'El Creekio' derby on the back of successive victories, admitted the inconsistent nature of Fareham's results make it difficult to predict what to expect.

But the Royals boss sees the derby occasion as a big night for both teams, who will be bidding to secure a spot in the quarter-finals of the Hampshire Senior Cup.

Carter said: ‘We don’t know what we’re going to be playing against!

‘It’s the Hampshire (Senior) Cup third round so it’s a game that’s important to both sides.

‘They call it the ‘El Creekio’ (derby) so it should be good. To be honest, our squad is not that big at the moment, we’ve got Ollie Searle back from Bemerton and he’s come back from a back injury so we’ll look at him.

‘We haven’t got that much to choose from to be honest.The gametime the youngsters are getting, they’re getting time, they’re happy with that.

‘Harvey Aston (pictured) scored the first goal (against Cowes) and set up another for Archie (Greenough) and he got man of the match.’

The rivals have already met once at The OnSite Group Stadium already this season, with August's early season Wessex Premier meeting ending in a 2-2 draw after Kai Sterne's last-gasp leveller salvaged a point for Stiles side.

They could meet again in the semi-finals of the Wessex League

Cup if Fareham beat lower division Downton in their quarter-final tie next week. Portchester are already through to the last four after beating New Milton 4-0 last midweek.

Fareham, meanwhile, have won the Hampshire Senior Cup four times, with their last success a 4-1 victory over Farnborough at Southampton’s Dell in 1993.

The last time the Reds appeared in the final was in 2003/04 when they lost 2-1 to Farnborough at St Mary’s.

AFC Bournemouth are the holders of the HSC, having beaten Eastleigh on penalties in the delayed 2019/20 final. There was no tournament played in 2020/21.

Previously, Hawks had won the competition three times in four seasons after Gosport Borough had lifted the silverware by beating Sholing in 2014/15.