Gosport made a great start, going ahead inside nine minutes. Bennett got in behind the Bideford defence to slot past home keeper Grant Fisher but soon Borough found things an uphill struggle.
A corner put 'keeper Alex Hards in difficulty and the ball appeared to cross the line but having awarded the goal, the referee consulted with his assistant, then reversed his decision. The vocal home support were less than impressed.
Things got more difficult for Borough when captain Lee Molyneaux was red carded after 20 minutes, for a late challenge on Kevin Squire and a physical battle was starting to take its toll, particularly on the visitors with Nathan Kirby suffering a head injury but playing on. Dan Woodward, however, was not so lucky, limping off a few minutes after being the victim of a heavy challenge.
Gosport conceded the equaliser within five minutes of the restart when Squire got on the end of a deep cross to net at the far post.
The momentum was now with Bideford and they were awarded a penalty with about 15 minutes to go when the referee spotted an offence in the area and pointed to the spot. Skipper Matt Hockley stepped up for Bideford to beat Hards.
Going into the final stages, it appeared Gosport were going to continue their luckless run of results at Bideford, where they have been regularly beaten but Alex Pike refused to concede defeat and substituted Steve Claridge for Liam Sewell and George Way came on for Kirby.
Just when it appeared that Gosport were set for a defeat, Bennett made a darting run into the area. He was felled by Aaron Harper-Penman, who was red carded for the foul and after a lengthy delay, Poate placed the ball high into the roof of the net to earn Gosport a point, in the 90th minute.
Final score: Bideford 2-2 Gosport Borough
Report: The News
