Wimborne Town and Gloucester City shared the spoils after a dramatic finish, which involved a late red card for the hosts and two goals in the last 15 minutes for the visitors.

 

Max Bustamante and Josh Carmichael both scored superb strikes to put the Magpies two-goals up at the break, before the Tigers roared back to earn a point with a strike either side of Ben Scorey’s red card.

 

Tim Sills made one change to the side which drew at Hanwell last weekend, with Joe Smith making way for Will Fletcher up top.

 

The Magpies began the game the stronger of the two sides, with Lewis Williams forcing Jared Thompson into a save in the fifth minute, a warning sign of what was to come.

 

The hosts then made the most of their early dominance when a sublime cross-field pass from Josh Carmichael picked out Max Bustamante, with the winger rifling the ball into the far corner of the net, to score in consecutive games.

 

Wimborne nearly doubled the lead when Carmichael’s free kick forced a full stretch save from Thompson, but the Gloucester stopper did well to hold on and prevent any rebounds.

 

However, eight minutes later, Carmichael did double the lead for the Magpies. Picking up the ball 25/30-yards out, the midfielder unleashed a strike which broke past everyone in the Gloucester backline and nestled into the bottom left corner of the net, a superb strike to give the home side a commanding advantage.

 

The Tigers nearly replied soon after when King Baidoo broke free and rounded Kai Crampton but failed to convert into an empty net whilst running at speed and the angle tightening.

 

Early into the second half, Carmichael was given another chance at a free kick at the edge of the box. Despite a well-struck effort, the final product dragged just wide of the post.

 

As the game wore on, Gloucester began to show the class that has them second in the table and halved the deficit in the 75th minute. The ball was worked to Elis Watts inside the box, whose close-range effort took a wicked deflection off a Wimborne man to wrong-foot Crampton and nestle into the back of the net.

 

As Wimborne looked to recover and settle into a rearguard action to preserve the points, just two minutes later Ben Scorey was sent off due to an adjudged last-man handball and the denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.

 

The Tigers amped up the pressure and got their rewards when a penalty was awarded in the 91st minute after a late Billy Walker challenge in the box. Harry Pinchard stepped up to take it and made no mistake, sending Crampton the wrong way and slotting it into the bottom corner of the net.

 

With the game all-square, the 10-men of Wimborne did well to hold on to a point and see out the game, with a draw being a fair assessment of the game, reflecting a half of dominance each.

 

Next up for the Magpies is another home match to Sholing on Saturday, as they look to preserve an unbeaten home league record which stretches back to February.

 

Plain; Eccott-Young, Walker, Scorey, Jackson; Roundell (McQuoid 59’), Carmichael, Munn; Bustamante (Ryan 75’), Williams (Borges 78’), Fletcher (Smith 75’)

Unused sub: Burchall

Att: 748

Report: Tom Whittick

	Magpies	Tigers
Goal attempts on target	6	6
Goal attempts off target	3	4
Goal attempts blocked	2	5
Corners	5	8
Fouls conceded	9	8
Offside	3	2
Cards	2Y, 1R	3Y