SHOLING became the first side to inflict an away defeat on Lymington Town in the Sydenhams Premier Division this season.

But manager Dave Diaper felt the Boatmen made hard work of beating Town's ten men following the sending-off of Zac Pickett and says there is much work to be done to get back to their usual high standards.

“Having recently lost three in a row, which is unacceptable for me, this was a very important result for us, although it wasn’t as comfortable as it should have been,” he said in the wake of Sholing's 3-2 win.

Bradey Norton was instrumental in setting up Alex Sawyer for the Boatmen’s opener, picking out the midfielder with a beautifully-weighted reverse pass with 21 minutes gone.

Within two minutes Lymington were back on terms with Taz Roberts playing in Tom Man for a neat finish.

And it got worse for Sholing five minutes later when Dave Lewis's Town turned the game on its head – Owen Fee ending a sweeping move by firing past advancing 'keeper Ryan Gosney.

A flashpoint followed on 33 minutes when Pickett saw red for a late tackle on Owen Royl and the ten men conceded right at the start of the second half when Lee Wort drew the Boatmen level with a fine individual goal.

Fittingly for Sholing, it was Owen Roundell, making his 100th club appearance, who netted the 63rd-minute winner.

Former Fareham man Norton was involved again, delivering a corner from the right for Roundell to crown his milestone day by heading into the far corner.

“We dominated the game, but the sending-off probably helped them as our ball retention was disappointing and we didn’t capitalise as we should have done,” said Diaper.

“Individual errors crept in, they didn’t change their system and we struggled against that at times.

“We had to work for the win. We deserved it in the end and there can be no arguments about the sending-off.

“Last season we only conceded 37 goals, but we gave away two more disappointing goals today.

“We need to work on the defensive aspect of our game as clean sheets are so vital.”

The win lifts Sholing third, nine points behind leaders Blackfield & Langley, having played one game more.

Lymington, who had suffered their first defeat to Andover Town four days earlier, drop to fifth.