Lee O'Neill and Tony Boto were still missing but Allicion Blake returned to lead the attack, although it was an injury to him that led to Hillyard coming on early in the second half. Jon Bickers was unavailable and Ben Garnham was ruled out by a back injury sustained while making his debut for the Suffolk FA Under-18 side in the 1-0 win against Norfolk at Leiston on Thursday night in which Woodbridge's Ben Seaman scored the winner and Luke Read and goalkeeper Tom Ross also played.

March should have gone ahead in the opening minute when a right-wing corner was flicked on and the unmarked Ashley Brand headed wide.

Blake came close to giving the Woodpeckers an eighth minute lead when, although in an offside position, the ball came to him via a March player and his right-foot shot from just outside the area curled past the angle of the bar and far post.

Woodbridge had another let off four minutes later when the impressive Adam Weston fed Ashley Brand and the pint-sized striker bore down on goal but dragged his shot wide. March's Marc Welcher was booked in the 28th minute after an altercation with Blake that saw the two players confront each other. Ten minutes later Blake wriggled free in the box after a long throw reached him but March keeper Lee Brookes was alert to the danger and took the ball off his feet.

The half was devoid of any more meaningful action as Woodbridge struggled to pass the ball around with their usual style on a bumpy pitch against opponents eager to pull off an upset. Brookes kept out Luke Read's volley after March failed to clear a Paul Berry corner straight after the restart and in the 55th minute Read and Blake, who had gone down injured, were replaced by Hillyard and Ben Miller, which saw skipper Jamie Scales move into the midfield and Paul Hart pushed up front.

Three minutes later Hart spurned Woodbridge's best chance of the match so far when he raced clear and, if anything, struck his shot too well and Brookes tipped the effort over the bar for a corner.

March responded with Weston heading straight at Marcus Garnham after good work down the right flank between Shaun Colson and Luke Pepper and there was a scare a minute later when the Woodbridge keeper misjudged a through ball and Denny Escorio fell as he went round him but the referee waved aside penalty appeals as Grant Monaghan got back to clear.

However, March took the lead a minute later when Ashley Brand was released through the middle and this time took full advantage of the opportunity as he clipped his shot over the advancing Marcus Garnham to put the Hares into the lead.

Escorio then shot straight at Marcus Garnham and two minutes later Talal Kamara burst down the left wing and tried his luck with an effort that hit the outside of the near post. Woodbridge were rocking at this point and staring defeat in the face, but with 15 minutes remaining they found an extra gear and started to threaten.

Hillyard saw his far post header saved by Brookes following a deep cross from Scales out on the right, and then Berry crossed for Aaron Churchyard to head goalwards and Brookes got down to save.

With nine minutes left on the clock Woodbridge scored the equalised they were now threatening when Berry's hanging cross to the far post was well brought under control by Hart who then rammed the ball home.

Hillyard then scored the winner in the 87th minute when he stretched to reach a cross a left-wing cross from Scales and slid the ball beneath Brookes and into the far corner. Hart almost added a third in the final minute when Woodbridge broke forward and he unleashed a stinging drive which was kept out by Brookes.

Woodbridge team: Marcus Garnham, Arran Sheppard, Mark Roper, Jamie Scales, Grant Monaghan, Luke Read (sub Ben Miller 55 mins), Aaron Churchyard, Paul Hart, Ben Seaman, Paul Berry, Allicion Blake (sub Liam Hillyard 55 mins).  Unused sub: Sean Rea.