BASINGSTOKE Town looked set to make it a hat-trick of wins, as they led 3-1 and 4-2 at National League South rivals Wealdstone, but in the end they had to settle for a 4-4 draw in Middlesex.

Town boss Michael Gilkes made two changes to the side which won at home last weekend to Maidenhead in the National League South.

Goalkeeper Dan Lincoln returned between the posts instead of Aaron Howe and striker Reece Connolly replaced Chris Flood.

In this high scoring encounter, it was Wealdstone who were first to find the back of net as Matt Harriott was able to fire in from 20 yards out.

The Dragons roared back and five minutes later, Liam Enver Marum scored his fifth goal in three games as he equalised for the visitors.

Town who came into the game on the back of excellent wins over Maidenhead and Horndean then took control of the game.

They scored a second goal after 22 minutes, as James Harper’s corner from the left wing, was headed out by central defender Tom Cadmore, but only as far as Enver-Marum on the right.

The striker fired the ball into the area, where Manny Williams was able to slot past Joe Taylor in the home net.

Enver-Marum so nearly added a third soon after, but his effort went over the bar, but this do not stop the visitors leading 3-1 by half-time.

Once again their goal came from the corner, this time sent in from the right by Tom Bird and met with a lovely header from Jack Deaman in the final minute of the half.

The first of four goals after the interval arrived on the hour mark, as the ball was knocked around the Town penalty area and eventually Jonathan Wright was able to poke the ball home.

Town hit back five minutes later, as a lovely slide rule pass from Williams, who had a great game, allowed Glen Southam to score from a tight angle.

At this point leading 4-2, it looked like the Dragons were on course for their third win on the trot.

However, the home side had other ideas and thanks to a stroke of luck, they reduced the arrears to one goal with 16 minutes left.

Wealdstone’s Bradley Hudson-Odoi played the ball inside to Harriott and his shot from the edge of the area, hit the shoulder of Basingstoke midfielder James Harper.

This caused the ball to loop over the desperate Lincoln in the visitor’s goal, who was unable to get to it.

This set up a tense finale and in added on time, Wealdstone broke Town’s hearts with an equaliser.

A long throw into the box from the right touchline was helped on by home players Wright and sub Jefferson Louis to the back post, where Hudson-Odoi poked the ball home.

The draw did not help Town’s relegation fight as they slipped back to the bottom of the National League South on goal difference.

This was after former bottom side St Albans City thumped visiting Whitehawk 6-0.

Elsewhere, Havant and Waterlooville moved out of the relegation zone for the first time since Christmas, after they scored twice in added on time to beat Maidstone United.

Weston-super-Mare dropped into the bottom three, following their 3-0 loss to Chelmsford City. They are four points above both Town and St Albans with three games in hand.

Basingstoke are now seven points from safety and next up for them is a trip to Kent on Saturday to face third placed Maidstone United.