It was hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the end of this exciting encounter, with both teams sharing eight goals.

On a superb surface, Hastings went ahead on just 13 minutes but Byron Harrison equalised just before half-time with a trademark penalty kick after being brought down by the home keeper, Josh Willis, who escaped with a yellow card.  Within two minutes though, Hastings had their noses in front again, following an uncharacteristic error from Guy Hollis.

When the home side made it 3-1 soon after the resumption, it seemed curtains for Ashford but an incredible fight back in the latter stages of the match saw the unmarked Hone Fowler heading home a corner kick, followed by a Byron Harrison header to level things up.  An absolute screamer of a free kick from skipper Paul Johnson then put Ashford in front for the first time and with the match entering stoppage time, three points seem to have been secured.  Ashford’s defensive frailities surfaced once again though as Hastings launched one final effort and equalised from a corner kick to bring an absorbing encounter to a close.

Full report to come from Terry Ryan.

To complete a much better day for the Club overall though, the Suburban side beat Raynes Park Vale in the Suburban League Cup by two goals to one, courtesy of strikes from Munir Dar and Ben Jones.