Dart’s stunning leveller earns Baffins Milton a draw in home Wessex Premier stalemate with Hamble Club

The attacking midfielder curled a delightful 25-yard angled shot from just outside the penalty area over giant keeper Ellis Grant in the 71st minute of the Wessex League Premier Division encounter.

Hamble had taken the lead only four minutes earlier when midfielder Ryan Wilkins was allowed a free header from a corner.

Buoyed by Dart’s moment of magic, Baffins enjoyed their best spell of the game as they sought a late winner and a second successive Premier victory after their 3-0 curtain-raising triumph at Alresford.

But, in truth, most neutrals would accept that a draw was the fairest of results in a game which took a while to come to life.

The first half was a scrappy affair, with very few chances and both teams guilty of sloppy passing.

There was only one decent chance at either end in the opening 45 minutes.

Wilkins, again left unmarked, headed a Mac Gange free-kick just wide while Dart rounded Grant - who had a short spell at Moneyfields last season - after being set clear by Tyler Moret. But Dart’s angled low shot was cleared off the line.

Baffins boss Shaun Wilkinson – deploying a 4-2-3-1 formation - had been forced into an early change when midfielder Nathan Kirby, one of his defensive midfield duo alongside James Cowan, went off injured inside the first 10 minutes, to be replaced by Charlie Osborne.

He made another switch at the interval, bringing striker Billy Connor on for right midfielder Dale Mason.

Connor’s arrival gave Baffins some extra energy, but home keeper Charlie Searle - on his birthday - produced a stunning close range stop on the hour mark to prevent Hamble taking the lead.

Four minutes later, Rovers went close when Tommy Scutt capped a fine solo run – a moment of skill at odds with most of what had been served up before by any of the 20 outfielders - with a shot that hit the post and rebounded back off Grant and out for a corner.

After the two goals, it was Baffins who looked the more dangerous with Connor firing wide and Dart, in a similar position to where he scored, curling another effort just past Grant’s far post.

Right back Charlie Williamson fired a shot across the face of the six-yard box before Connor had a fierce goalbound effort blocked by the defence.

At the end, the tannoy announcer revealed one of the spectators had travelled down from Norwich just to watch the game.

After a highly forgettable first period, at least Dart’s goal would have given the fan something to remember on his long journey back to East Anglia.

Baffins: Searle, Williamson, Miller, Warren, Sharp, Kirby, Scutt, Cowan, Moret, Dart, Mason.