NEW Milton boss Trevor Parker had no complaints after they conceded two late goals to lose out at Fawcett's Field.

Dominic Allen had given them a 30th minute lead from close range before Gary Austin crashed a spectacular 20-yarder into the top corner to level with 10 minutes to go.

Tommy Woodward grabbed Fareham's winner soon after as New Milton slipped to their 14th league defeat of the campaign.

It meant Fareham completed the double over New Milton after winning 3-0 at home a few weeks ago, and they are just two points behind Bournemouth Poppies in sixth place in the Premier Division.

New Milton remain in deep relegation trouble, fourth bottom only three points above Lymington Town, who they entertain in a derby six-pointer on Tuesday.

Parker said: "I can't believe Fareham lost 5-0 at home to (bottom-of-the-table) Downton a few weeks ago because they are a very good side.

"Fareham totally dominated the first half but and we went 1-0 up against the run of play when Dominic got his first goal for us since joining from Hamworthy United.

"We played much better in the second half and were on top before their guy scored a cracking solo goal that we couldn't do anything about.

"Almost straight away they got the winner, and although we still had chances to retrieve it, we can't complain we lost.

"I was very pleased with our second half performance and we are making progress."

Parker, meanwhile, has labelled the Fawcett's Field pitch as the "best in the Wessex League".

While all 33 other scheduled games in the competition were waterlogged off on Saturday, New Milton's was the sole match that went ahead.

Parker said: "I'm not being funny, but this pitch is so good that one of my players actually came back into the changing room after the warm-up and said 'I could even wear rubber studs'."

New Milton: Jones, Holt (Burt 82), Grace, K Chengadu, Neville, Ewen, Borthwick, Smith, Allen (Booker 86), Mekchiche (Malloy 84), Marks. Unused subs: Kabir, Pidgley.

  • The league matches called off included Totton v Hamworthy United, Alton v Bournemouth Poppies, Christchurch v Brading and Romsey v Ringwood in the Premier Division, and Verwood v Petersfield in Division One.