Winchester scored twice in the last five minutes - their equaliser 30 seconds from time – to salvage a point from a bizarre 12-goal South Premier Division 1 thriller at Milton Keynes.
The turning point, which set up the grand-stand finish, came when Milton Keynes lost their discipline and were reduced to ten men by a yellow card.
Winchester took numerical advantage, clawed it back to 6-5 through Isaac Hocking and then grabbed a last gasp penalty corner equaliser from Ben Hibberd.
Winchester’s return to Premier 1 hockey could hardly have got off to a more perfect start than a first minute Hibberd goal which followed a slick exchange of passes.
That early strike sparked a first half goal frenzy, with Hocking wiping out an MK equaliser and Kieran Molloy and Kent Langridge scoring to give Winchester a 4-3 interval lead.
Led by former Havant player Tom Murtagh, Milton Keynes hit back hard, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 6-4 lead.
But Winchester maintained their discipline to grab two late goals and earn a share of the spoils.
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