Gosport Borough have done Havant & Waterlooville a huge favour by lending them towering keeper Mark Brown for tonight's huge Conference South fixture at Cambridge City (7.45).

With the play-offs within touching distance for Ian Baird's men, Hawks have been rocked by injuries to first-choice keeper Gareth Howells and his understudy Colin Matthews.

So Wessex neighbours Gosport have torn up Brown's contract and allowing him to play for the Hawks for the rest of the season.

Matthews is out for six months after damaging cruciate knee ligaments against Lewes eight days ago, while Howells - Hawks' player-of-the-month for March - had to bow out with a thigh pull halfway through Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by second-placed St Albans City.

Howells' injury brought about their downfall against St Albans when he was robbed of possession as he tried to shepherd the ball out of play by the corner flag.

The half-fit Howells was then clattered by striker Lee Clarke and had to retire at half-time and replaced by Wessex League rookie Tom Taylor, signed last month from BAT Sports.

"It's horrible when a whole season relies on this sort of situation," said Hawks' secretary Trevor Brock.

If the fifth-placed Hawks win at Cambridge and in Saturday's final league game at Eastleigh, their play-off berth is assured - with or without the three-point deduction hanging over them from the Tony Taggart affair.

Hawks - who were charged with 'bringing the competition into disrepute' after playing Taggart against his old club Weymouth in January- were due to have their appeal heard today at Soho Square.

But the hearing hinged on the club receiving a written response from the Conference beforehand.

"We've got a barrister lined up, but we need the Conference to write back to us so that we know what we're arguing against in the hearing," said Brock.