Manager Glenn Turnbull's theory proves wide of the mark as Moneyfields and 10-man AFC Portchester play out eight-goal Wessex Premier thriller

But what followed was an eight-goal classic with a red card to throw into the mix as Moneys run out 5-3 victors over 10-man Portchester in the Wessex League Premier Division.

Turnbull revealed how a club steward had said to him prior to kick-off he thought the PO postcode rivals would play out 3-3 draw.

But the Moneyfields boss was quick to respond with a nice way of putting there wouldn't be that many goals.

So Turnbull was just as surprised as anyone with what followed over a frantic 90 minutes at Dover Road.

He admitted: ‘One of the stewards said, ‘oh, I think it’ll be 3-3 today,’ but I said there wouldn’t be that many goals in it!

‘When Elliott got his goal to make it 2-0 I thought we’d be comfortable from then on.

‘We let them in 2-1, then 3-1, then 3-2, then 4-2 - I’m thinking this is okay now - then it was 4-3 and I even forget we scored a fifth. At the end of the game I was going, ‘we scrapped through there 4-3,’ but then everyone went we won 5-3.

‘It was one of the games if you’re there watching, the number of people who went, ‘I really enjoyed that, what a good game of football. It wasn’t too great for me or Gav (Gav Spurway; taking charge of Portchester for the game), I don’t think.’

Up until just before the hour mark, Turnbull's cagey, low-scoring pre-match prediction looked as though it would prove correct.

With 55 minutes on the clock, Moneys were leading 1-0 after defender Tom Cain's opener on 11 minutes while the Royals were facing a long second period with former Moneyfields man Conor Bailey shown a second yellow card five minutes after the restart.

But after Elliott Turnbull doubled the hosts' advantage on 56 minutes, it signalled the scoring floodgates opening.

George Barker's piece of individual brilliance pulled it back to 2-1 on 64 minutes before James Franklyn restored Moneyfields' two-goal advantage five minutes later.

The Royals, without suspended manager Dave Carter, dragged it back to 3-2 with Lee Wort firing into an empty net 16 minutes from time.

Surely when Franklyn grabbed his second on 77 minutes that would knock the stuffing out of the resilient Royals.

Yet, once again, Wort struck with five minutes left to give the battling Portchester a chance at 4-3.

And it wasn't until Dec Sedien's stoppage-time strike Moneys could breath a sigh of relief knowing they'd beaten Portchester for the second time in the space of three months at Dover Road.