Fareham Town's late show stuns Baffins Milton Rovers in ten-goal thriller

Fareham Town produced a stunning late fightback to stretch their unbeaten run at Cams Alders to eight matches following a ten-goal thriller with Baffins Milton Rovers.
Josh Benfield struck twice in the thrilling draw with Baffins Milton Rovers. Picture: Vernon Nash (301119-024)Josh Benfield struck twice in the thrilling draw with Baffins Milton Rovers. Picture: Vernon Nash (301119-024)
Josh Benfield struck twice in the thrilling draw with Baffins Milton Rovers. Picture: Vernon Nash (301119-024)

The Reds netted three times in the final 19 minutes to salvage a 5-5 draw with Steve Leigh's men in an enthralling Wessex League Premier Division encounter.

Pete Stiles' side looked dead and buried as they trailed 5-2 with 20 minutes remaining.

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However, late efforts from Tom Settle - from the penalty spot – Luke Slade and Josh Benfield - his second of the game - saw them pick up an unlikely point.

Traffic congestion put the kick-off back by 10 minutes, but it was well worth the wait.

Both teams came out a ferocious pace and there were five goals crammed into an action-packed opening 34 minutes.

It was the visitors who took the lead after eight minutes. The ball fell to Dart in the area and he fired Baffins ahead.

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It was a short-lived advantage, though, with Benfield slotting Fareham level six minutes later.

A frantic first 20 minutes was then complete as Connor Messenbird drilled into the net from the corner of the area to put the Reds ahead for the first time.

The first half scoring was not finished there. Dart was on hand to fire over the line to pull Baffins back level on 32 minutes before Tierney handed the away side a 3-2 advantage two minutes later.

Incredibly, the scoring continued in the same way after the restart.

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Robert Taw's wind-assisted corner went straight into the net and it looked as though Leigh's side were on course for a comfortable win with 39 minutes still to play.

Things got worse for Fareham on 70 minutes when Baffins goalkeeper Cameron Scott fired home from the penalty spot.

But the Reds, who were on a seven-game unbeaten run at home heading into this, were not about to give that fine record up at Cams Alders.

Tom Settle slammed home a spot-kick with 18 minutes remaining to give Fareham a sniff.

Slade then forced his way through before firing home on 82 minutes to set up a thrilling finale.

Incredibly, Benfield bagged his second of the match a minute from the end as it finished 5-5.

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