Ringwood Town beat Infinity FC 4-3 in the Wessex League moving the club up to 13th in Division One
In a thrilling encounter at Long Lane, Harry Smith grabbed a second half hat-trick to help Ringwood Town defeat Infinty FC 4-3 at Long Lane. Substitue Harry Osman had tied the game at 3-3 for the visitors going into the final 10 minutes - after Ringwood had come from 2-1 behind to lead 3-2.
Goals from Jamie White and Kurt Watts had initially cancelled out Josh Taylor's opener for the hosts, who went into the break 2-1 down. Smith's winner secured a third win of the season for Town and claimed his 10th goal of the season as Ringwood jump three places to 13th.
Roy Viner remained absent for the home side with a broken toe whilst Tommy Hughes was also unavailable for Richard Morse's side. But there was a start for Sammy Brown in midfield as he returned to the squad and was joined by captain Ben Harris who was moved to a midfield role.
Harris set the tempo early on for the home side as his shot from distance forced the Infinity ‘keeper into a save in the opening few minutes.
With just under ten minutes on the clock, Ringwood took the lead through Taylor, who had received a pass from Harry Smith off the left flank, and fired in from just inside the box - his shot clipping the post on its way in.
It only took the visitors two minutes to pull level though, as Ringwood gave away a free kick on the edge of the box. The free kick struck the post and Jamie White was quickest to react and tapped in from around eight yards.
After the blistering start to the game, the tempo dropped and both teams struggled to create any chances as the half grew.
The visitors then took the lead with half time approaching, as Kurt Watts wriggled his way through Ringwood's defence and slotted his shot past Sam Reilly who came out to close the forward down.
There was a moment of panic just minutes later as an Infinity player ran through on goal, and Reilly rushed out to meet him, but came off second best, however, Infinity were unable to score with the goal wide open.
Just before the half time whistle, White glanced a header towards goal from a corner but the ball was cleared off the line and the teams went into the break.
After a slow start to the second half, Ringwood found their equaliser. Smith grabbed his eighth of the season after reacting quickest to Harris’ shot from distance. The captain’s shot bounced back off the bar and Smith was there to level things up at 2-2.
Moments later, Harrison Fay was brought down in the box and Ringwood’s top scorer, Smith, stepped up to blast the resulting spot kick straight down the middle to turn the game back in the home side’s favour.
As the final 10 minutes of the game approached Infinty equalised. Harry Osman was allowed a free header from a corner and placed his effort past Reilly as the game took another turn and put the teams back on level terms.
At 3-3, the game was poised to go either way, and as the final minutes ticked down on the clock, it was the home side who found the winner.
Smith grabbed his hat-trick and 10th goal of the season to give Ringwood the win deep into added time.
After a cross from the right was poorly dealt with by the Infinity keeper, Smith was on hand again to power home the loose ball into an empty net - taking a deflection on its way.
The referee soon blew for full time and all three points went to Ringwood in what was a truly entertaining game that had everyone on the edge of their seats.
Ringwood: Sam Reilly (g/k), Max Mason, Brad Smith, Callum Horton, Charlie Hitchings, Joss Holford, Ben Harris, Sam Brown, James Taylor, Harry Smith, Harrison Fay.
Subs: Harrison Clarke, Morgan Cole, Conrad Chruchill, Jack Knight, Nick Magee
Infinity FC: Kieran Webster (g/k), Lincoln Peppal, Joe McLean, Andy Powell, Josh Cripps, Callum Parker, Wayne Boyd(c), Joel Francis, Brandon Douglas, Jamie White, Kurt Watts
Subs: Harvey Cooper, Harry Osman, Liam Bush, Josh Oxlade