After a fairly mundane first-half, the game came alive for the final quarter. Nnamdi Nwachuku gave Gosport the lead, Drew Eccott-Young received a second yellow card, and Will Fletcher restored parity late on. That goal stretched Wimborne’s unbeaten run to ten.

Manager Tim Sills made one change, Owen Roundell-Prince starting instead of Cam Munn.

On a bright but surprisingly blustery afternoon, the sprinklers were used before kick-off. Two wingers lit up the early stages of the game: Matty Burrows brilliant turn left Williams trailing in his wake before his cross found Jez Bedford whose shot was blocked; at the other end Nwachuku’s cross was headed goalwards by Payce for Cam Plain to save well at the foot of his post. But that bright start became a distant memory as the teams cancelled each other out in midfield. There were plenty of passes, but the quality of the final ball was lacking so there were few chances or even half-chances. And, at times, both teams were guilty of giving the ball away to disrupt any momentum that was building. Payce’s header was Borough’s only goal attempt of the half; The Magpies were unable to test keeper Parkes. Owen Roundell-Prince blasted well over from distance, and Josh Carmichael did likewise from the edge of the area. Wimborne looked jaded from that mammoth effort four days earlier; Gosport lacked confidence following last Saturday’s four goal battering by Bracknell.

There was more meaningful action after the break. For Wimborne, Billy Walker raced across to clear Borough’s first attack after the interval; Will Fletcher showed great composure to control the ball on his chest before spreading it wide to Burrows on the wing; Drew Eccott-Young made a well-timed tackle to stop Nwachuku; Carmichael headed a free-kick clear; Eccott-Young’s enterprising sortie down the right wing earned a corner; and Carmichael scuffed Burrows’ pull-back from the by-line. For Gosport, Yearwood lobbed wide of the far post; Payce’s high cross was caught at full stretch by Plain; and the keeper then made a sprawling save from Yearwood’s low cross from the by-line.

Then, as the game appeared to be heading for a goal-less draw, The Borough took the lead on 75 minutes. Tarbuck’s pull-back from the right by-line led to some pin-ball in the box before Nwachuku’s shot bobbled past Plain from 10 yards. Gosport sensed another. Tarbuck was beginning to run the game in midfield, and his pass sent Yearwood racing through one-on-one with the keeper who brought off a great save. On 83 minutes the situation became worse for the visitors: Eccott-Young dragged back the elusive Nwachuku for referee Ryan to show him a second yellow card and send the full-back for first dibs of the shower gel.

Gosport seemed to be in control of the game now, but this is Tim’s team on an undefeated run, and they weren’t going to give that up without a fight. Cam Munn showed some delightful touches and Harry Morgan was making some trade-mark runs into the box. On 88 minutes the ball was spread wide to Burrows on the right. His cross was controlled by Fletcher before he stroked the ball into the corner of the net from five yards. There were five minutes of additional time, but neither side really looked like scoring again. To be honest, neither side really deserved to win, but then again, neither side deserved to lose, so a draw was a fair result.

The point eases Gosport’s relegation worries. The point continues Wimborne’s record breaking unbeaten run, and extends the unbeaten away run to six.

Wimborne: Plain, Eccott-Young, Roberts, Walker (Baker 79), Jackson, Roundell-Prince, Carmichael (Munn 60), Neale (Morgan 68), Bedford (Richardson 86), Burrows (Biss 89), Fletcher 

Attendance: 854

Match stats: