Eastleigh's James Stokoe had an unforgettable start to his Bashley loan spell when he had the last word in an amazing 5-4 victory at Burgess Hill.

Unbelievably the Foresters fought back from 4-1 down to seal the most unlikely of scorelines in front of a stunned 214 Leylands Park crowd.

"We're the team to watch," smiled manager Geoff Butler. "If they ever sack me and Ricky (assistant manager Ricky Haysom), we're going to get season tickets!"

Butler's mood wasn't quite so upbeat in the half-time dressing room having watched Bash shoot themselves in the foot with two defensive errors.

Goalkeeper Stacey Harper spilled his namesake Steve's shot to gift the Hillians the lead and then a mix-up between the young keeper and defender Matt Parnell gave the Sussex side a needless free-kick from which they earned a corner and Alex Robinson scored.

Sandwiched between was a Danny Gibbons header for Bash, also from a corner, but the Hillians went in 3-1 up at the break through Leo Day.

Instead of reading the riot act, Butler forecast Bashley would score at least twice in the second half.

He said: "There were so many chances, it could have been 5-5 at half-time. Their keeper was making his debut and I knew there were goals in it for us - even if we ended up losing 6-3.

"We only had three defenders in the side - Paul Gazzard, Chris Ferrett and Matt Parnell - so we had to try and outscore them."

Incredibly Bashley did just that - but not before Burgess Hill had grabbed a fourth on 52 minutes when Harper outwitted substitute keeper David Elm in a one-on-one.

Top scorer Richard Gillespie got the fightback underway, coming off the back post to volley home from a corner. Gibbons struck again with his head on 64 minutes and Chris Knowles levelled with a brave, diving header two minutes later.

Stokoe bundled home the winner eight minutes from time and, amazingly, Gillespie could have had two more, but he was denied in a one-on-one and volleyed a good chance over.

Butler has yet to tie up the loan deal for Eastleigh full-back Sam Wyeth, but he was pleased with Stokoe's debut. "He's good upstairs, he holds the ball up, he's got good feet and he's very direct," he said. "He tired because he hasn't played too many matches lately and got less effective as the game went on."

l Newport IoW also had a jubilant journey home after pulling off an unexpected 2-1 victory at Tooting & Mitcham thanks to Dave Greening's spectacular late winner.

They too gave a silly goal away when Adam Barsdell defied team orders to take a quick free-kick and watched on in dismay as the south Londoners broke away to score through John Hastings after keeper Joe McCormack had only half-saved Craig Tanner's initial effort.

Twice the woodwork came to Newport's rescue, but they equalised on 67 minutes when Steve Leigh headed in Barsdell's corner.

Greening's winner five minutes from time was a gem. Luke Forrest played the ball towards the corner flag and, having stopped it going out of play, Greening cut in, motored past the Tooting centre-half and drove an angled shot into the far, top corner.

"It's probably the best goal he's scored in his lifetime," purred manager John Linington. "You won't see a better one on TV."

The win lifts the Islanders to 17th place and Linington hopes he can keep experienced duo Leigh and Leigh Cole, who are believed to be interesting Winchester City.

Linington said: "Our team spirit's red hot now. Jon Holmes, Boo Fletcher and Ollie Fleming all had good games and Simon Pilcher was outstanding in the second half.

"He covered so much ground. One minute he was up in attack and the next minute he was heading the ball off the line for a corner."

l With Banstead pulling off an unlikely win at Cray, Fleet Town have dropped to 19th place after a 1-0 reverse at second-to-bottom Ashford.

Yet again an individual mistake cost Fleet with recent signing Jermaine Hinds at fault for Paul Jones's 21st-minute winner, giving Ashford their first league win since October.