Heath suffer last-gasp agony as leaders Newhaven claim dramatic win

Steve Painter’s side had the Division 2 leaders on the rack and looked to be headed for a comfortable win when leading 3-1 with 19 minutes to play. But the Dockers produced a thrilling fightback to take a 4-3 lead, which might have been cancelled out with the final kick of the game when Damon Aston’s penalty was saved.

It was all going so well for the hosts, who took the lead despite going behind in the third minute. Lee Robinson’s accurate finish was cancelled out when Grant Miller, Tim Martin and Jamal Sultan combined well to tee-up Aston for a close range equaliser.

Soon after, Dockers keeper Jake Buss saved from Martyn Flack and Aston, but could nothing when Jake Holmes latched on to Miller’s pass for his 21st league goal of the campaign and the lead was doubled when Flack bundled home a Miller corner.

An inspired Buss continued to keep Newhaven in it, and they grabbed a lifeline when James Fisher’s clearance fell for Richard Watton, who drilled a low shot through a sea of legs to make it 3-2.

Debutant Lucas Mann then came off the bench to slam home an 81st minute equaliser before slotting a cool injury time penalty. Painter’s troops plugged away though and almost rescued a point. A goal-bound shot was handled on the line by defender Ryan Knight, but with the final kick of the game, man of the match Buss saved from Aston’s spot-kick to secure a dramatic win.