A dramatic late equaliser from Elliot Scotchers injury time free kick grabbed a 1-1 draw for Haverfordwest County on the Bridge Meadow against ten-man Cefn Druids.
Scotcher cored in the 94th minute to cancel out Joe Faux’s opener as they made it three games without defeat, following a 2-0 win over Aberystwyth in midweek.
The Ancients meanwhile picked up their second consecutive point on the road as they bounced back from their heavy 4-0 defeat to The New Saints on Wednesday.
Despite Haverfordwest’s late effort, they drop to sixth after Penybont’s 6-0 thrashing of Caernarfon Town, with Rhys Griffiths’ side posing a two-game advantage over Wayne Jones’ men.
Both sides showed endeavour in the opening period, the visitors having the more clear cut chances, striker Chris Aziamale not composed enough to put his side ahead having had three great opportunities.
Faux and Sam Phillips enjoyed space out wide but Dan Summerfield in the home defence stood tall, with composure and class as he joined his sides offensive play.
The Ancients collected two yellow cards, Phil Mooney for a high foot and Ryan Kershaw for a blatant trip on Ben Fawcett, which was the trigger for the diminutive striker to hobble off just before half time to be replaced by Mark Jones.
Danny Williams was a regular out ball for the home side and he created half chances which Fawcett and his replacement Jones couldn’t convert, a subdued Jack Wilson only once getting into his stride and to the dead ball line but Jones clipped his cross over from five yards under pressure from Josh Green.
The home tactics were being easily dealt with by Mooney and his partner in the heart of the defence Jacob Wise, a high ball not the requirement, midfielders Elliot Scotcher and Kurtis Rees having moments of desire, with Ricky Watts drifting further upfield in an effort to create opportunities.
The half time break required a reset from the managers, with an insistence on quality.
Cameron Keetch replaced Tryston Jones and before he touched the ball, Faux rounded Summerfield, who had switched wings, to drive it beyond Wojciech Gadja for the first goal.
Sam Phillips set up Aziamale two minutes later, leaving Pemberton in his wake and Gadja saved bravely, which instigated a third substitute from Wayne Jones as Marcus Griffiths replaced his skipper. Jack Wilson saw yellow for a crude tackle on Naim Arsan which also saw the visiting skipper and goalkeeper Mike Jones carded for his continual whinging over the decision.
A second yellow card to Kershaw for a needless trip on Watts saw him dismissed by referee Bryn Markham-Jones, whilst Jamie Reed replaced Aziamale, the Bluebirds lacklustre and not reading the game, being ahead of the ball and caught out too often.
Watts was cautioned for a trip on substitute Reed, Iwan Cartwright also entering the fray as Wise was strong in guiding his defence. Haverfordwest were caught on numerous occasions in possession, the result allowing the red shirts to swarm forward.
Substitute Edge had a shot well saved by Gadja as he ran clear, the home side devoid of inspiration to breakdown the visitors, Wilson having a shot from twenty yards, wide of the far past as he cut in from the right.
Man of the match Wise and Mooney were solid, dealing with the threats time and time again, substitute Keetch involved in most of the positive work for the Bluebirds, manager Wayne Jones cautioned by Markham-Jones for his protestations over the delaying tactics from Druids.
The final ten minutes saw goalkeeper Jones commanding his area well, but he had to withstand a barrage of Bluebirds pressure.
He pushed a free kick over the wall before the drama in injury time. Williams was fouled on the edge of the eighteen yard box, Scotcher struck the ball over the wall and a light deflection saw it beat Mike Jones for a goal which sparked delirium in West Wales, earning Scott Tancock a yellow card for his celebrations in front of the away dugout, Aaron Simpson picking up a caution for a foul in the dying embers of the game.
Both now turn their attentions to Tuesday with home matches for the two sides. Haverfordwest play their third home game in a row against Barry, meanwhile the Druids host Caernarfon Town.
Haverfordwest County: Wojciech Gajda, Daniel Summerfield, Trystan Jones, Sean Pemberton (C), Scott Tancock, Ricky Watts, Ben Fawcett, Jack Wilson, Kurtis Rees, Elliot Scotcher, Danny Williams.
Substitutes: Matt Turner, Marcus Griffiths, Cameron Keetch, Jack Britton, Mark Jones
Cefn Druids: Mike Jones, Naim Arsan, Josh Green, Phil Mooney, Aaron Simpson, Alex Darlington, Sam Phillips, Joe Faux, Christoph Aziamale, Ryan Kershaw, Jacob Wise.
Subs: Jamie Reed, Harry Brazel, Dawid Szczepaniak, Iwan Cartwright, Charley Edge
See how the Bluebirds secured a late point by recapping with our live blog:
(Featured Image: John Smith/FAW)
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