Ringwood Town come back from three goals down to seal dramatic late Wessex League draw against Cove

Wessex League Premier Division

Ringwood Town FC 3

Cove FC 3

A GAME of two halves may be a much-overused idiom, but it was never a truer statement than in Ringwood Town’s comeback at the weekend.

Cove FC looked in total control after scoring three goals, but Ringwood’s Fran Mathers galvanised his side at the break, and they snatched a point at the death.

The Long Lane faithful had enjoyed watching their side go on a seven-game unbeaten run, but the Wasps took the lead after six minutes through Luke Edmondson after a quick breakaway after early pressure.

The visitors extended their lead on the quarter-hour mark when Connolly fired past Liam Smith before Will Peters looked to have secured the three points with a third goal.

Ringwood were much better after the break, but it took until the 65th minute for their first goal to arrive. Cove struggled to clear the ball, but they eventually hacked it away to Ben Bradwell, who fizzed it into the middle of the area, where Lee Vint swept it home with a delightful, unstoppable first-time finish.

With eight minutes left, it looked as if Ringwood were running out of time. But the Cove keeper palmed the ball into the path of Joe Petty after Vint fired goalwards, and the midfielder fired high into the net to make it 3-2.

The match had entered the third minute of stoppage time when Ringwood Town went route one. Keeper Smith blasted the ball upfield before Pat Correia stabbed the bouncing ball forward over the defence. Vint charged onto the ball, beat a man and fired low and hard past the keeper, who stood rooted in shock as the Ringwood players went crazy.

Ringwood Town manager Fran Mathers said: “We seem to be doing things the hard way at the moment!

“We were very open and honest about individual performances and mistakes at half-time. We spoke about chasing performance levels over chasing results. I just wanted the players to show how good they are and can be.

“I also mentioned how much the club means to so many of them sat there as, for some, the club had been a big part of their lives for many years. It’s time for a new culture at Ringwood. Thankfully, it worked!”

Ringwood Town: L. Smith, B. Bradwell, P. Correia, J. Wintle, J. Zdrava, T. Hopper, B. Harris, J. Ridland, L. Vint, D. Whitelaw, L. Pothas. Subs: J. Petty, B. Chester, M. Gollings, J. Mercado, C. Lister.