MARCH Town United went close to rescuing an unlikely point from Saturday s match at Tiptree United. The Hares lost 4-3 but they staged a late fight back from 4-1 down, despite being reduced to 10 men when Stuart Warby was sent off. March manager Paul Swan

MARCH Town United went close to rescuing an unlikely point from Saturday's match at Tiptree United.

The Hares lost 4-3 but they staged a late fight back from 4-1 down, despite being reduced to 10 men when Stuart Warby was sent off.

March manager Paul Swannell was forced to play a much-changed side for Saturday's match, with no fewer than seven players suspended or injured.

Shaun Coulson, Harry Roe, Marc Welcher, Daniel Moyes, Jason Dean, Martin Wells and Tom Chilton were all missing from the Hares' squad but Louis Lee was back and two new signings made a good impression on their debuts.

Adam Collins slotted in to central midfield while striker Matt Batt proved to be a threat up front.

March began well but they were caught out by a free kick on the half-hour mark and fell 2-0 behind soon after.

Warby received a red card 10 minutes before the break. His retaliation to a tackle and pushing his head in to the face of an opponent left the referee with no option but to send him off.

Despite this, March were back on the offensive in the second half and back in the game when Ashley Spendelow turned in Charlie Patten's cross.

But March were left to rue a two-minute period 20 minutes from time, when the home side scored twice to go 4-1 up.

Ashley Brand found the back of the net twice in five minutes to set up a frantic finish but March were unable to score an equaliser.

Swannell said: "Although we had players missing, we had a strong side and I thought the new lads did well."

He added: "We have signed nine players in five weeks and we have some strength in depth now that we didn't have earlier in the season.

"I am hopeful that this will give us a good chance to pull away from the bottom of the table over the coming weeks."

Tomorrow (Saturday), March entertain Debenham LC. Shaun Coulson will be back in the squad and newly-signed Ryan Francis will be available for selection for the first time.

Hares: Lee Smith, Rory Wheeler, Darren Hurst, Billy Tumblety, Stuart Warby, Ashley Spendelow, Louis Lee, Adam Collins, Charlie Patten, Matt Batt, Ashley Brand.