STOCKBRIDGE and Romsey Town served up a real thriller at the Rec on Saturday, with seven goals and a sending-off to keep the crowd enthralled on a damp, dark afternoon.

Romsey took the lead, but had to mount a grandstand recovery in the second half to claim three points from two goals down.

Right from the first whistle both teams went for each other's throats, and a fascinating battle resulted.

After 20 minutes Romsey took the lead when a scrappy passage of play down the right ended with the ball arriving at the feet of Simon De'ath, who smashed it home.

But Romsey only held the lead for four minutes before Lewis Bain set Ryan Boare free; the young striker used his pace to pierce the heart of the Romsey defence and score.

The next goal, after 29 minutes, was even better. Boare collected Simon Poultney's through-ball with his back to goal, jinked past his marker and let fly with an inch-perfect thunderbolt into the top-right corner.

Three minutes after the break Stocks appeared to have it all sewn up. This time Boare turned provider, his scorching run down the right taking him past his defender to the by-line. From there he flighted a cross to the far post, where Paul Copping arrived to nod a simple goal.

Romsey appeared to be dead and buried, but with James Rolph and Andy Kemp starting to make their presence felt in midfield they started their comeback.

It wasn't long before De'ath powered home a header from a nicely-flighted Simon Woodley free-kick to drag it back to 3-2. Five minutes later De'ath flicked on another Woodley free-kick; the ball took a wicked deflection off a defender to leave Alan Ralph flat-footed, and the two sides were level.

The winning goal, which came after 79 minutes, also had an element of good fortune about it. De'ath made a superb jinking run into the box, before crossing low to Kemp. Kemp miskicked, but the ball looped up perfectly for Paul Smith to plant a firm header into the back of the net. Stockbridge still fought, and few could have argued if they'd salvaged a point.

But all they got for their troubles was a red card for Mark Vowles, who foolishly reacted when Romsey sub John Ball threw the ball at his head.

His second booking reduced his side to ten men and effectively scotched Stocks' chances of getting back into it.