Niko Muir inspired a stunning second-half comeback as injury-hit Hampton and Richmond came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Welling 3-2 last night.
The 28-year-old striker marked his return from injury with two assists and the winning goal after James Gray and Ryan Gondoh had brought the game level in South East London.
Coincidentally, the dramatic seven-minute turnaround leaves the Beavers seventh, on a seven-game unbeaten league run and seven points off National League South leader’s Dartford.
Manager Gary McCann must have thought his team’s luck had run out after three good chances were squandered early in the first half, continuing their profligacy in the final third as was the case in Saturday’s stalemate against Chippenham.
Things would get even worse for McCann as Dipo Akinyemi and Ademola Shokunbi gave the Wings a comfortable lead before David Fisher went off injured to be replaced by Muir prior to the interval.
Attacking midfielder Gondoh, who scored a fantastic equaliser from the edge of the area, hailed the impact of Muir after an uneasy half-time break.
He said: “To be honest, tensions were high at half time because we felt we were dominating the game at the start, then we just switched off and found ourselves in a deep hole.
“To have Niko back is incredible. To have another option upfront with Jorome gives us more ideas.
“Credit to him coming on and scoring the winner last night, with being out for 8 weeks and only just starting his rehab.
“On a personal note, it felt great to score because my goal tally isn’t where I want it to be this season but hopefully there’s more to come.”
Meanwhile, head coach McCann praised his team’s shift in mentality at the end of a disappointing first half.
He said to Hampton and Richmond Borough FC: “We walked off the pitch shellshocked.
“At half time it didn’t look possible, but the boys stood up, were counted and showed us a real resilience and togetherness to recover the game.
“I asked some big questions of them, looked into the whites of their eyes and they had the answers for us in the second half.”
Hampton and Richmond’s next game comes on Saturday 30 October with a South London clash away at eighth-place Dulwich Hamlet.
Featured image credit: Thom @GRTourist
