Lymington & New Milton manager Ian Robinson has refused to get drawn into an argument over James Rowe's appearance for Bashley in yesterday's New Forest derby at Fawcett's Field.

Bash won 1-0 - ironically with a goal set up by Rowe - even though it had been agreed between the clubs that the AFC Bournemouth midfielder wouldn't appear against Lymington because he had played for them earlier in the season.

Robinson was clearly unhappy, but was quick to point out that the breaking of the agreement was no fault of Bashley's.

He said: "I don't want to get any deeper into this, but I gather that the Bournemouth manager, Sean O'Driscoll, got involved and said he wanted his player to play.

"I decided to take the sensible route and accept it because there's been enough animosity between the clubs without pouring more oil on the fire."

It took just two minutes for the deciding goal to arrive when centre-back Matt Parnell met Rowe's free-kick with a deft, side-foot volley.

It ended a six-match unbeaten run for the Linnets and ensured that, with just two games to go, Bashley are still in with an outside chance of the play-offs.

"We were probably the better side in the first half and Lymington had the better of the second half," summed up Bash boss Steve Riley. "After two defeats, it was important for us to take the three points. It was an honest, professional display."

In Robinson's book, Lymington were worthy of a draw. "We murdered them in the second half," he said. "We had a perfectly good James Stokoe goal disallowed for a push on the keeper, but it was a Bashley defender who barged him off the ball.

"Dan Cann and Tyronne Bowers both had good chances and their keeper (David Elm) tipped a James Stokoe header over. It's disappointing to have lost, but there wasn't a lot of difference between the sides - and at least we'll still be playing at this level next season."