A BRAD Pates hat-trick was not enough to earn Nelson the three points at Daisy Hill as they succumbed to a late equaliser in a 10-goal thriller.

The Blues took the lead after only two minutes when Pates curled a 20-yard shot jut inside the post, but the home side levelled the scores with an unstoppable John Saxon shot five minutes before the interval.

And Daisy Hill went in front with a Will Archer penalty on the stroke of half time before Nelson drew level at 2-2 in the first minute of the second half when Andy Bennett slotted in the rebound from Paul Barrett's shot.

Ten minutes later Nelson again took the lead when Brad Pates drove in a 20-yard shot and after 67 minutes Martin Fletcher made it 4-2 to the Blues with a good finish.

Four minutes later however, Nelson were caught out by a quickly taken free kick as Tomasz Gronowski scored to make it 4-3 and on 74 minutes Will Archer levelled the scores at 4-4 by scoring from the penalty spot after he was brought down in the Nelson area.

Nelson were back in front within a minute when Fletcher was fouled at the other end and Brad Pates converted the penalty for his hat-trick.

With the Blues 5-4 ahead, Andy Bennett was sent off in the closing minutes and Daisy Hill took advantage with a last minute attack when a low cross was forced home by Will Archer in a goalmouth scramble to level at 5-5.