DORCHESTER TOWN 2

Lowes 14, Blair 21

BLACKFIELD & LANGLEY 2

Kasimu 28, 66

A BRACE from Hisham Kasimu earned Blackfield & Langley a point after goals from Billy Lowes and Tom Blair gave the Magpies an early two-goal cushion in an enthralling BetVictor Southern Premier South encounter at the Clayson Stadium.

Both sides finished the match with 10 men after Dorchester’s Tom Blair and visiting skipper, Harry Medway, were red carded in an off-the-ball incident on 58 minutes.

Callum Rose was finally stretchered off with an ankle injury for the Magpies in second-half stoppage-time, this after injuring his wrist during the match.

The Magpies started in determined fashion with Blair exchanging passes with Kyle Egan then drilling a shot which visiting keeper Lewis Noice pushed aside for a Dorchester corner. This was delivered by Egan to Callum Rose on the edge of the penalty area but his looping header just cleared the crossbar.

After good pressure by Rose, Tom Purrington sent an effort over from six yards. The first chance for the Watersiders was carved out by Tom Hanfrey whose fiercely-driven centre from the left wing eluded Mitchell Speechley-Price at the far post.

Another Hanfrey centre was well read by Magpies’ keeper Nick Hutchings. Hanfrey then broke up an attack by Rose, who injured his wrist for the first time in the process.

Hanfrey found Sam Griffin whose cross picked out Kasimu but he missed a great chance with the goal at his mercy enabling Hutchings to comfortably gather.

That miss looked to have cost the Watersiders dearly when Lowes, played through by Egan, drove forward and, spotting visiting keeper Lewis Noice out of position, opened the scoring with a 20-yard low drive.

A delicate chip from Egan found Blair whose shot on the turn was saved by Noice. Tom Purrington set up Sean Wright whose effort was blocked while Blair and Rose also had efforts scrambled away.

A centre from Egan was too pacy for his teammates but the second goal came on 22 minutes when Blair’s tame shot following an Egan centre looked harmless until deflecting in off central defender Jordan Rose.

But a blunder by Dorchester skipper Franklyn Clarke paved the way for a fightback by the Watersiders.

Clarke made a hash of an attempted clearance enabling Kasimu to net from close range. Lewis Waterfield then fired over for the resurgent visitors.

A foul on Tom Bath by the visiting Rose then gifted Dorchester a free-kick chance to restore their two-goal advantage, which Neil Martin curled against the crossbar.

An off balance Kasimu fired wide for the visitors while Blair surged into the opposite penalty area only to see his low shot saved by Noice who also clawed down an effort from Tom Purrington.

Hanfrey sent a long range free kick over for Blackfield & Langley and then had a shot deflected over the crossbar. Egan cleared off the line to deny Mitchell Speechley-Price and in a fiery end to the half, Blair had a shot blocked while Purrington just could not work the space he needed to strike the rebound.

The Watersiders’ Rose cleared off the visitors’ line to frustrate Purrington at the start of the second half which also saw Klaidi Lolos replace Sean Wright for the Magpies.

With play swinging quickly to the opposite end, referee Niall Clinton spotted an off-the-ball incident which warranted red cards for Blair and Medway forcing both sides to play with 10 men for the remaining 32 minutes.

A shot on the turn from Bath forced a tip over save from Noice while a lightning break from Kasimu ended with an angled low drive just past the Magpies’ far post.

Hutchings’ blushes were spared by Tiago Sa when his poor throw presented the lively Kasimu with another chance but Sa was able to chase back and force the striker wide before steering the ball away from danger.

From the resultant corner, Kasimu’s near-post shot was scooped up by Hutchings.

Sa was then busy at the other end producing an inch-perfect centre for Bath whose header crashed back off the crossbar.

That miss proved crucial as within two minutes, Blackfield & Langley hauled themselves level and it was no surprise that it was Kasimu who scored from close range after a mistake from Hutchings.

Hanfrey’s set pieces were also a threat to the Magpies and another Hanfrey long-range free-kick flew inches wide. An Egan free-kick was pushed over by Noice while after a surging run from Egan, his cross was clawed aside by Noice but only to substitute Lolos whose attempted hook flew wide. A long pass from Clarke found Sa but no players in black and white stripes were up in support to take advantage of the cut back chance that followed.

As play swung from end to end, a curled effort from Kasimu cleared the Dorchester crossbar while Charlie Gunson also missed a good chance for the visitors from Adam Tomasso’s cross. Before being forced off injured, Rose headed over at the far post and in the 96th minute Egan pulled off a vital block to deny Devane Bongou then cleared off the line to frustrate Sam Griffin after Hutchings appeared to drop the ball at the striker’s feet.

Dorchester’s last chance to grab maximum points fell to Lolos in the sixth minute of seven added but his strike was saved by Noice.

Magpies: Hutchings, Egan, Sa, Martin,Rose (Morris 90+1), Clarke, Purrington, Lowes, Bath, Wright (Lolos 46), Blair.

Subs not used: Murphy, Tornainen, Lovegrove

Blackfield & Langley: Noice, Hatfield, Hanfrey, Tomasso, Rose, Medway (c), Speechley-Price (Gwengwe 67) Gunson, Kasimu (Suraci 85), Waterfield (Bongou 62), Griffin.

Subs not used: Rae, Saadi.

Referee: Niall Clinton (Poole)

Attendance: 306

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