Match report: 10-man Hythe & Dibden FC suffer ‘kick in the teeth’ defeat in last-gasp 5-4 Wessex League Premier Division loss to Laverstock & Ford FC

Hythe & Dibden came out second best in a thrilling, back-and-forth nine-goal thriller, with their injury-time leveller bettered by Laverstock & Ford’s even later injury-time winner on Saturday.

Hythe took the lead thanks to an early goal from Josh Batt, but after falling behind, they did superbly well to level the scores three times despite finishing the match with 10 players, but a 97th-minute winner from Laverstock & Ford left the battling side empty-handed.

“What a game”, said Hythe & Dibden manager Richard Morse. “The emotions were all over the place – a game for the neutral, for sure!

“I’m disappointed we didn’t get all three points, but to get it back to 4-4 in overtime, I would have taken, but then to lose the game two minutes later was a real kick in the teeth.”

The match promised to be a close affair, with the two sides coming into the contest level on points, and it did not disappoint.

The opening goal came after just eight minutes when captain Sam Boon launched the ball in from the left. A Hythe head flicked the ball on, where a well-placed Batt rose well to nod home from just six yards out.

The lead lasted less than two minutes, with Adam Bourner curling an effort beyond the outstretched arm of Hythe keeper Luke Deacon from the edge of the area before Lewis Wakeford’s firm free-kick into the area made it 2-1 to Laverstock & Ford after a hefty deflection off a defender.

Four minutes before the half ended, Marcel Laptas cut inside on the edge of the box and placed an unstoppable shot past the keeper’s outstretched left hand to level the match.

With the match finely balanced, a speculative effort from range, which Deacon had covered, took a massive deflection, trickling into the bottom corner, with Harvey Roberts awarded the goal to spare the defender’s blushes.

Just before the hour mark, Hythe benefitted from a slice of luck of their own when Ollie Davies squeezed the ball home at the front post after it rebounded off the post from a corner to tap in from two yards out.

With 17 minutes left, Rob Flooks saw red, reducing Hythe to 10 players. So when Bourner grabbed his second to make it 4-3 with three minutes of regulation time left, the match seemed won.

However, with two minutes of injury time played, Deacon went route one, blasting a free-kick downfield. A poor header from the defence allowed Laptas to burst in behind and poke the ball home, sparking wild celebrations.

Unfortunately for Hythe, there was still time to be played, and Laverstock made the best of it, Billy Campbell-Smith nodding home a heart-breaking winner in the 97th minute to snatch all three points.

Hythe & Dibden returns to league action on Saturday at 3pm when they travel to face third-placed AFC Stoneham.

Hythe & Dibden: L. Deacon, S. Boon, D. Wyatt, R. Crookes, R. Flooks, J. Batt, M. Laptas, L. Carbayo-Borges, D. Hacon, O. Davies, H. Clarke. Subs: C. Hewson, L. Thompson, K. Gatera, T. Lycett, B. Sexton-Chadwick.