Lymington & New Milton staged an astonishing second-half recovery to beat nine-man Moneyfields 5-4 in a Dover Road thriller and keep their Sydenhams Wessex League title hopes alive.

At half-time and with Moneyfields 3-0 up, Linnets manager Ian Robinson must have been tempted to telephone Winchester City boss Neil Hards and congratulate him on a second consecutive title win, writes MIKE VIMPANY.

With Winchester thumping Andover 5-0 the previous night, Lymington simply had to beat in-form Moneyfields.

But it all went horribly wrong for 45 minutes as Moneyfields - buoyant after five straight wins - scored twice in four minutes midway through the period and added a third goal from the penalty spot just before half-time.

"I didn't give us a prayer at the break. I honestly thought we'd blown, it," Robinson confessed. "We'd had the bulk of the possession but missed our chances and yet Moneyfields scored with three of the four efforts they had."

Jason Bessy and Bickram Singh inflicted the double blows after Lymington had wasted some early chances, and Dale Field - a promising 16-year old wideman seemingly Bognor Regis Town-bound - drove home the penalty after Mark Clothier had been rather harshly treated when the ball appeared to strike his arm.

But if Moneyfields thought it was all done and dusted, they were in for a big mistake.

Darren Powell cut the gap, then - with his first touch after coming on as a sub - Patrick James volleyed Linnets back into the contest at 3-2.

"Those two goals rocked their confidence and we gained the self-belief that we could turn it round and win," Robinson said.

Lymington stormed forward, with the influential Ben Thomson having strong appeals for a penalty turned down and then having a fierce close-range effort beaten out.

But the equaliser wasn't long coming - Thomson's 58th-minute corner picking out Michael Jackson to score at the near post.

Moneyfields lost their composure - and two of their players - when Sean Wain and Miles Rutherford were sent off by Portland referee Chris Brokenshaw for second bookable offences.

It took the Portsmouth club's red card tally for the season to nine - the worst in the Wessex League. They paid the penalty too as Lymington's two-man numerical advantage was boosted by a second goal from James.

But the Moneyfields nine weren't finished - Singh levelling with a fine header.

Lymington, though, refused to lie down.

Thomson rattled the bar and goalkeeper Dean Wain's bravery denied Powell and Jackson.

With injury time looming, Trefor Smith - Lymington's third sub - picked up a loose ball and rifled a blistering 20-yarder into the far corner.

Even an improbable win was too much for former Saints trainee Sam Carter, who contrived to get himself sent off in the dying seconds.

With two matches remaining, Winchester and Lymington & New Milton are neck and neck with 93 points each at the top of the Wessex League.

But Winchester have a massive "plus 20" goal difference in their favour as they head into their final two games against Bemerton and Brockenhurst.

"We need a big favour from one of them if we are going to do it," said Lymington boss Ian Robinson.

Like City, Lymington's last two matches are at home - to Christchurch and Gosport.