GOALS from Dan Cox, Callum Holloway and Ben Thomson helped New Milton Town climb off the foot of Wessex Premier thanks to a 3-1 win at fellow strugglers Horndean.

Cox opened the scoring with a close-range effort midway through the first half before Linnets were pegged back by a Dan Hayes penalty.

However, second-half strikes from Holloway and substitute Thomson saw New Milton halt a run of five successive defeats and saw them chalk up their first win of the year.

Linnets: Hookway, Proctor, Embree (Blackburn, 80), Barge, Curtis, De’ath, Egerton, Whitcher (Thomson, 57), Holloway, Cox, Roberts. Unused sub: Booker.

  • New signing Lee Burch came off the bench to earn Verwood Town a creditable 1-1 draw against Fareham Town at Cams Alders.

Potters: Lynch, Evans, O’Connell, Kelly, M Smith, Dyer, Saxby, Webb, Long, Satterley, Gajic (Burch, 77). Unused subs: J Smith, Murray.

  • Ringwood Town had the better of a Long Lane stalemate with fellow strugglers Amesbury Town, the hosts registering their first draw of the season in Wessex One.