New Milton Town were left scratching their heads as they wondered how they had not beaten local rivals Totton & Eling after hitting the woodwork three times in a 1-1 draw at Miller Park on Saturday.

The Millers dominated large spells of the Wessex League Division One contest and created a host of opportunities, but had to settle for a point after Niall Dixon’s first-half equaliser cancelled out Alfie Roberts’ opener.

“I’m disappointed to come away with it at one-all,” said New Milton manager Jamie Kay. “We take a point, and you have to give them and their game plan credit – we executed ours quite well, and we created loads of chances.”

New Milton threatened early on, with a corner eventually falling to Dixon, who fired over the bar.

However, it was Totton & Eling who broke the deadlock in the 27th minute, Roberts finding the net to put the Millers ahead.

The Brickmakers responded positively, with goalkeeper Jamie Bristow producing an excellent save to keep out Dixon’s long-range effort, which was heading towards the bottom-left corner.

New Milton’s pressure paid off in the 35th minute. Jake Carswell delivered a looping cross into the box, and Dixon met it on the volley to restore parity.

The second half became a frustrating procession of near misses for the Brickmakers, though. Louis Whetton struck the woodwork from just inside the box in the 55th minute, before Dixon’s effort from the edge of the area cannoned off the post four minutes later.

McHale then beat his defenders brilliantly and looked set to complete the turnaround, only for his shot to crash against the crossbar in the 63rd minute.

Kay felt his side had done enough to win, but admitted there were lessons to take from the afternoon. “We hit the woodwork multiple times, lots of crosses into good areas and lots of box entries, good numbers in the attack, but it just wouldn’t fall for us at certain moments,” he said.

“I’m a little disappointed with the set-piece that we’ve conceded to go 1-0 down, because we were in full control until then. We had lots of attacking moments, and restricted them really well. We just have to learn and reflect, develop and improve.”

Kay remained hopeful the point could prove valuable later in the campaign, adding: “It could end up being an important point at the end of the season.”

New Milton host Folland Sports on Saturday at 3pm, while Totton & Eling travel to Newport (IoW) on Tuesday for a 7.45pm kick-off before visiting Hedge End Rangers on Saturday, also at 3pm.

New Milton Town: L. Thomas, E. Pearce-Eavis, N. Dixon, C. McHale, O. Lowes, D. Husher, L. Whetton, J. Carswell, H. Rayner, A. Scott, C. Burns. Subs: J. Broad, L. Lane, A. Stokes, H. Swager, C. Clarke.

Totton & Eling: J. Bristow, M. Hooper, A. Jallow, S. Lewis, A. Roberts, H. Abdi, M. Croucher, B. Gillooly, J. Good, B. Tipp, R. House. Subs: O. Ford, Z. Komaromi, M. Antosik.