Boss Dan Bishop was always confident Hayling United would battle back to claim comeback opening-day win at Clanfield

The Humbugs produced a superb second half comeback to eventually run out 3-2 winners at Westleigh Park last night.

Hayling were up against after going 2-0 behind inside 54 minutes following strikes in either half from Charlie McNally and Adam Smalley.

But Bishop's side would complete a brilliant turnaround victory, with three goals coming in just 10 second half minutes after Sam Neal had made it 2-1 just before the hour.

The Hayling boss insisted his belief in his team never wavered and was delighted to see them battle back to begin the campaign with victory.

Bishop said: ‘It was an interesting one. We didn’t really know what to expect from Clanfield as they’re pretty much a new side - they’ve brought in a lot of young, busy players.

‘They’ve got a game plan, which they delivered very well, it took us a little bit by surprise.

‘But I felt, after speaking to the boys at half time, that we would get back into it and we did.

‘I was watching the game and we were creating chances all the way through and just not taking them so I didn’t panic, to be fair, I fancied us all the way through.

‘It’s a very good start and, ultimately, we want to be punching at the top of the league.

‘It doesn’t matter how we get the wins, we have got a certain style of play that we’ll believe in, but unless we get the three points each time it’s failing.

‘I was very, very pleased with the attitude, massively pleased that they didn’t panic, showed total belief in each other and they carried on creating the chances.

‘We’ll click soon enough, I’ve got a lot of confidence.’

It was the worst possible start to the new season for Hayling, who trailed at the break following McNally's opener after 24 minutes.

The Humbugs fell further behind on 54 minutes when Smalley struck to leave them with it all to do.

However, Neal pulled one back just three minutes later before George Gregory got the slightest of touches on a Neal effort to level things up with 27 minutes still to go.

The remarkable turnaround was then complete just three minutes later, with three goals in a 10-minute spell, when Dan Goodsell scored what proved to be the winner.

Hayling are back in action tomorrow as they travel to HPL Senior Division new boys Denmead (3pm).