Eastleigh manager Paul Doswell had only one word for yesterday's 2-2 Jewson Wessex League draw at Thatcham - "surreal."

The ambitious Ten Acres side had nine players booked and two sent off and yet still fought back from a 2-0 half-time deficit.

Two of the yellow cards were flashed at Vince Rusher and Steve Thorp, who went on as substitutes at the start of the second half.

According to the linesman, the pair had gone on without permission, but Eastleigh insist that player/assistant manager Chris White had informed the officials that the subs were being made.

In Rusher's case, it proved particularly costly. He was later booked again for dissent, reducing Eastleigh to nine men following Martin Beck's earlier dismissal after White had headed them back to 2-1 from Warren Kenna's cross.

Between the red cards, new £6,000 striker, David Laws from Weymouth, got off the mark with a goal on his debut - a header from 12 yards.

Unbelievably, Eastleigh could even have won it, but Warren Kenna shot wide from five yards after being set up by Laws.

It was a far cry from the first half which Thatcham had dominated. Bob McLay put them ahead before scoring with the Berkshire side's second penalty of the game.

Colin Matthews had saved the first from Sean Cook and was himself penalised for the second, supposedly punching a player instead of the ball - another decision hotly disputed by Eastleigh.

Doswell said: "It was a lesson in management, but I expect I'll wake up with a smile on my face tomorrow because, at half-time, we didn't expect to get anything out of the game."

There were shocks elsewhere with Gosport Borough, Portland and Wimborne all suffering shock home defeats.

There were late fireworks at Wimborne where Stuart Willes and Scott Ferguson put BAT ahead inside 19 minutes and Jamie Sturgess replied on the half-hour.

BAT skipper Lee Hodder was sent off for a reckless challenge on Stuart Cannie after 87 minutes and then his namesake, Paul, saw red in stoppage time for handball on the line. But the nine Tobaccomen clinched a 2-1 victory when Paul Honeybun missed the penalty.

Gosport lost 2-0 to Bournemouth Poppies, who stunned them with a close-range Ryan Lucas header on 33 minutes and an 88th-minute breakaway goal by Lewis Till. To add to Borough's headache, eight-goal marksman Neil Scammell hobbled off after colliding with an advertising hoarding.

Having lost their first two league games, Christchurch inflicted Portland's first defeat of the season thanks to Ross Edwards's second-half header from debutant Martin Fox's cross.

"We worked our socks off," smiled Priory's co-manager Tony Brown.

Newbury stay top of the pile with maximum points after scraping a 1-0 victory at Hamble ASSC. The Planemakers threatened first when Chris Cox hit the bar and they could have capitalised when Newbury had Anthony Alleyne sent off midway through the first half.

Yashwa Romeo had a goal disallowed for the visitors before James Caswell settled the game with a dubious 59th-minute penalty awarded for handball by Hamble skipper Mark Smith.

Fareham chalked up their second 3-0 victory of the Bank Holiday weekend at the expense of Bemerton at Cams Alders.

After missing a stack of first-half chances, they made amends through Floyd Hamoudu, James Lacey and a superb individual effort from Abdou Manneh.

"It was a fantastic team performance and Floyd really stood out today," said manager Jon Gittens.

Totton are also going well after brushing aside Whitchurch 3-0 at Testwood Park through Michael White (penalty), Martin Whiddett and Ollie Shaw.

They are joined on seven points by reigning champions Andover, who toppled Blackfield & Langley (Oakley, Maynard) 4-2 through Bennett, Nicholls, Butler and an own goal.

Highest scorers of the day were Cowes Sports who tore a weakened Downton side apart 8-0 on the Island.

Darrren Powell, Andy Watson and Lawrence Edmondson all scored two apiece, backed by singles from Phil McDonald (penalty) and Ollie Buckett.

Cowes vice-chairman David Rudge took no real pleasure from the victory, saying: "Downton had lots of injuries and unavailabilities and put out a team of youngsters. Let's face it, no one wants to travel to the Isle of Wight on a Bank Holiday Monday when it's packed with holiday-makers going backwards and forwards.

"It's time these holiday fixtures were addressed because of the unfairness it creates. Clubs like Downton and ourselves don't have contract players, so they can't force people to travel."