LAVERSTOCK and Ford came tantalisingly close to wrecking leaders Portland United's three-year unbeaten home record, and inadvertently helping rivals Amesbury Town, in Sydenhams Wessex Division One.

Adam Bourner's 54th minute goal looked enough to secure a historical win for Lavvy before a disastrous final few minutes unfolded at Grove Corner.

Spencer Horton was red carded in the 88th minute for hacking Alex Halloran, who duly dispatched the penalty.

Then substitute Tom Richardson popped up with the match-winner deep into stoppage time to rescue his side, who were on the verge of facing a rare home defeat.

Lavvy managers Liam McConnell and Robbie Lakeman said: "To come that close to denying the potential champions at home is hard to take.

"The lads were brilliant today and quite rightly deserve the plaudits Portland's staff gave them at full-time.

"They were applauded off the pitch by their home fans, which was a nice touch but the bottom line is we picked up no points. It's a cruel game at times but this young side will bounce back."

The Blues, also chasing promotion, defeated in-form Fleet Spurs 2-0 thanks to goals from Craig Wheeler and Nic Turpin.

Fleet Spurs missed a penalty in what was an end-to-end game.

Amesbury who have all but secured promotion to Sydenhams Wessex Premier.