Brockenhurst produced a stirring performance with 10 men before suffering a cruel 4-3 defeat to second-placed Hamble Club at the Meadens Skoda Arena on Saturday.

The Badgers twice fought back from behind, including a remarkable late rally that saw them level at 3-3, only for Nick Yeomans to snatch victory for the visitors in stoppage time.

Brockenhurst started brightly, with Dylan Walker testing the Hamble goalkeeper inside the opening minute before Henry Mubiro also tried his luck.

However, Hamble struck first in the third minute when a long throw caused problems in the home penalty area, and Ollie Davies found the net.

The Badgers threatened an equaliser when Mubiro beat two men before crossing for Harry McGrath, whose effort flew narrowly over the bar.

Hamble doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time as Ildis Beqiri worked his way past two Brockenhurst players before slotting past Jordi Valero.

But the hosts responded in superb fashion during first-half stoppage time. McGrath beat two opponents before fizzing the ball across the box, where Sami Makhloufi played it through for Mitch Speechley-Price to finish brilliantly into the bottom-right corner.

Brockenhurst’s task became significantly harder six minutes into the second half when Walker was shown a second yellow card and sent off.

Hamble immediately capitalised, with Beqiri’s attempted cross looping over Valero to restore the visitors’ two-goal cushion.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Badgers refused to give in. Freddie Bullard won possession with a fine tackle before McGrath released Dylan Andrews, who rounded the goalkeeper but was denied by a covering defender.

The hosts’ determination finally paid off in the 84th minute when Rian Drake delivered an excellent ball into the box, and Ashton Palmier glanced a header across goal and into the corner.

Four minutes later, Palmier produced an even more spectacular moment, curling a free-kick straight into the top corner to bring Brockenhurst level at 3-3 and set up a dramatic finish.

Yet, with the Badgers seemingly having earned a hard-fought point, Hamble delivered the final blow in the fourth minute of added time as Yeomans scored the winner.

The Badgers host Bemerton Heath Harlequins on Tuesday, with kick-off at 7.45pm, before travelling to Laverstock & Ford on Saturday at 3pm.

Brockenhurst: J. Valero, H. Mubiro, R. Drake, D. Bradford, D. Andrews, M. Rossi, M. Speechley-Price, T. Colmer, H. McGrath, S. Makhloufi, D. Walker. Subs: F. Bullard, A. Palmier, S. Bradford, G. Aga-in.