WIMBORNE striker Gareth Barnes hit a hat-trick as they hammered Hayling 8-1 at home to move just four points behind Wessex Premier leaders Bemerton last night.

James Stokoe (two), Kevin James (two) and Ben Thomson were also on the scoresheet as Magpies romped to their eighth victory in nine matches.

But the gloss was taken off Alex Browne’s side’s triumph by the early first-half departure of midfielder Tommy McCormick through injury.

He sustained a deep cut to his upper thigh after coming off second best in a tackle and was replaced by Steve Whitcher in the 10th minute.

Wimborne: Walker-Harris, Wilson, Lockyer, Browne (Haysom 60), Wyatt, McCormick (Whiter 10), Green, Stokoe, Barnes (Clarke 75), James, Thomson. Unused subs: Mullins, Hutchings.

Struggling New Milton felt they deserved to pick up more than one point after being held to a 1-1 home draw by fellow basement boys Cowes Sports.

Paul White headed Linnets in front in the 26th minute, but the islanders levelled just before the break.

Simon Quirk (twice) and Ashley Booker went close to grabbing a winner for New Milton, but they had to settle for a share of the spoils.

White was sent off in the 90th minute after committing a second bookable offence.

New Milton: Webb, Winzar, Lever, Colman, Mead, Walker (Wilson 63), White, Quirk, Pidgley (Light 76), Allen (Hillyer 72), Booker. Unused sub: Boulter.

Poppies look set to gain a Hampshire Senior Cup reprieve after their home quarter-final against AFC Totton was abandoned due to floodlight failure in the 71st minute.

Max Cream had cracked the high-riding Wessex Premier outfit 1-0 in front in the first half of the clash at Victoria Park with a superb solo goal.

But their Southern League rivals had taken a 2-1 lead with second-half strikes from Mike Gosney and James Taylor before the lights went out.

Both sides are expecting the tie to be re-staged at Victoria Park, as it was still very much in the balance at the time of the abandonment.

The lights failed twice, once two minutes before half-time, then during the second period, with Poppies officials believing the failures were possibly caused by water getting into the floodlight system.

Poppies: Harvell, Jones, Crutcher, Byrne, D Wilson, Sanderson, Wrixton, Phillipson-Masters, Webb, Cream, Cream. Unused subs: Vaughan, Toy, Aimson, Bates, R Wilson.

Veteran midfielder Taffy Richardson ended up as Poole Town’s stand-in goalkeeper during their 3-1 Wessex League Cup third round triumph at Petersfield.

Dolphins custodian Nic Jones limped off in the 60th minute with a knee injury and because regular stand-in Dan Ackerman was unavailable due to work commitments, Richardson was forced to put on the gloves.

Premier Division champions Poole won with extra-time goals from Russell Cook and Jordan Fisk after Carl Preston had given them a first-half lead.

Division One underdogs Petersfield had levelled in the 80th minute with a disputed equaliser that the Dolphins players claimed was offside to force an extra half hour.

Poole’s victory booked a mouth-watering quarter-final clash at Christchurch next Tuesday.

Poole Town: Jones (Dovell 60), Poore, Lloyd, Whitley, Gill, Preston, Sturgess, Richardson, Culliford (Cook 70), Hubbard, S Smith (Fisk 80). Unused sub: Brown.