JORDAN Rose made a hasty return from Sussex to set Lymington Town on course for a 2-0 victory at relegation-battling Fareham on Saturday.

The former Stockport County defender trained with his new club Whitehawk in the morning and turned up at Cams Alders midway through the first half.

It was 0-0 at the time and it remained that way until Rose, on as a sub, had his initial header from a corner saved but managed to bury the rebound.

Oakley Hanger made the points safe late on, latching onto Harrison Weeks’ flick before volleying home from 20 yards.

Acknowledging that the dismissal of Fareham’s Josh Cripps for a second bookable offence was a turning point, Lymington boss John Pyatt said: “To be fair to Fareham they’re fighting for their lives and they were resilient. We hit the bar a few times, but it wasn’t until they went a man down that we took advantage.

“We were just about to change things when their lad was sent off and that opened things up a bit for us.”

Lymington moved fifth in the Sydenhams Premier table after reeling off their sixth straight league win.

“Everyone knows we’re on a bit of a roll and they all want to stop us,” said Pyatt. “But we worked hard for that result and that’s testament to the lads’ character.

“Stuart Williamson was superb in goal. He didn’t have a lot to do, but he marshalled things from there.

“Jamie Bulpitt was superb again and fair play to Jordan Rose too.

“Jordan’s looking to get a contract with Whitehawk for next season, but he didn’t have a game on Saturday and will pop back and play for us whenever he can.”

Reflecting on Cripps’ rather harsh dismissal, Fareham boss Matt Parr – who takes his side to Horndean tonight - said: “When you are at the bottom end, things often go against you.

“The other teams around us are also losing, though, and we are still confident we can pick up the points needed to stay up.”