ISLE OF WIGHT 3, ALTON 2

ALTON came tantalisingly close to causing an upset as they lost by the odd goal in five to high-flying Isle of Wight, the winner only coming in the last ten minutes.

It would have been hard to tell which was the lower-ranked side as Alton flew out of the blocks and put the home side under immediate pressure.

The visitors’ pace clearly took the Islanders by surprise, with Martin Kercher, Felix Morrison and Harry Curtis causing all sorts of problems.

After several close misses, Alton took a deserved lead when Kercher broke away and slid the ball under the advancing keeper.

Isle of Wight then threw everything at Alton, but solid defence from Dan Trim, Luke Bottomley, James Wilson and Forbes Hamilton kept them out until, on the stroke of half-time, a short-corner strike sneaked inside the post for the equaliser.

Again, Alton came out the stronger side. Curtis and Morrison were pulling the Islanders’ midfield apart, while Richard Spicer made some great runs down the middle.

Sure enough, the visitors regained the lead as Curtis picked the ball up at the top of the circle and fired off a reverse-stick shot that flew into the bottom corner.

Alton continued to play a strong defensive game, but a string of short corners finally wore them down and the Islanders drew level at 2-2.

With ten minutes to go, the game was wide open as both sides went for the winner. Kercher again went close for Alton and then Luke Smith fired inches over the crossbar.

But it was Isle of Wight who landed the killer blow, finding the smallest of gaps in Alton’s defence for the lone striker to squeeze the ball home.