ALTON 3 WEYMOUTH 3 MATT Metcalfe held his nerve and converted a late penalty flick to ensure Weymouth completed a dramatic comeback at Alton in Hampshire One.

The young Seasiders were immediately put under pressure, falling behind in the opening minutes and then having keeper Dave Civil to thank for several superb saves.

The visitors did muster one decent attack in the first half when a clever move enabled Pat May to break free of his marker and go close with a menacing reverse-stick shot but Alton's constant advances soon paid dividends again in the form of two goals in quick succession.

The hosts would have added a couple more and put the game beyond Weymouth in the latter stages of the half but some resolute defending by the impressive Dan Eggleston ensured the deficit was just three going into the break.

Visiting skipper Ben Thomas' team talk at the interval clearly inspired his troops, who came out in the second half determined to put some respectability back on to the scoreline.

Thomas began linking well with the strikers and the wide men, and some precise passing soon had Alton playing the chasing game.

Weymouth's confidence was clearly flooding back and after 15-year-old winger and man-of-the-match Stuart Fry showed his potential by dribbling past a couple of experienced defenders, the visitors won their first short corner which saw Metcalfe test the home keeper with a drag flick.

All the Seasiders needed now was a goal and there was nothing the Alton stopper could do moments later when Metcalfe fired a straight strike into the corner of the net to give his side a huge lift.

Weymouth continued to attack and they soon won another short corner after some fine aggressive play by Chris Fry.

His brother Stuart Fry did not waste the opportunity, striking home to make it 3-2.

The visitors were now playing their best hockey of the season so far with defenders Pete Russell and Dan Bowles winning the majority of their tackles and the midfield, led by youngster Sam Drewitt, creating openings for the forwards.

And it was Drewitt who was fouled for the penalty flick that saw Weymouth level through Metcalfe, who coolly slotted home with a flick into the top corner of the net.

Weymouth now looked like the more likely winners but they were unable to grab a fourth. May and Metcalfe went close before Thomas fired a reverse-stick effort just over the bar.

Thomas said: "A poor first half meant that we again put ourselves under unnecessary pressure. The umpiring seemed to be going against us, and we let that affect us too much.

"Fortunately we got our heads right at half-time and started to think more about just playing and enjoying what we were doing. After that we came out and played really well, and in the end should have won the game."

Weymouth: Civil, Eggleston, Metcalfe, Bowles, S Fry, Thomas, C Fry, Foot, May, Drewitt, Ford n Weymouth's next couple of games will see them take on the bottom two teams in the league, starting with a home clash against Southampton University tomorrow at Redlands. Push back is at 2pm.

TODAY'S TABLE

HAMPSHIRE LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A GD Pts

Hamble 9 8 0 1 41 11 30 24

Basingstoke 9 5 1 3 28 20 8 16

Blandford 9 4 3 2 27 22 5 15

Weymouth 9 4 3 2 24 22 2 15

Haslemere 9 3 5 1 28 17 11 14

Alton 9 4 2 3 32 23 9 14

Wimborne Wayfarers 9 4 0 5 22 21 1 12

Aldershot & Farnham 9 4 0 5 26 30 -4 12

Salisbury 9 2 3 4 26 21 5 9

Isle of Wight 9 2 3 4 37 40 -3 9

Southampton Univ 8 2 2 4 18 16 2 8

Univ of Portsmouth 8 0 0 8 11 77 -66 0