AFC Telford 2 Hinckley 2 - match report

In a season where the top sides in the Blue Square Bet North have shown astonishing consistency, these two dropped points could prove costly.

Yet the Bucks can feel some satisfaction at the character they showed to come from the brink of defeat and rescue a draw in the closing minutes.

James Lawrie, in particular, must surely have indulged in a personal pat on the back, having scored both goals for his side.

Not even named on the bench for the 3-0 defeat at Blyth last Tuesday, Lawrie came in from the cold for this one and immediately justified his manager's show of faith.

Andy Sinton was Telford's tinkerman on Saturday, making three changes to his line-up - with Alex Meechan joining Lawrie in earning a recall while loan winger Lee Smith got a full debut.

The way the home side started the game suggested that he had got it just right, the Bucks creating enough opportunities to have been out of sight in the first 20 minutes.

They finished strongly as well, but it was the 15 minutes before the break and the first 25 of the second half that were to prove so costly.

During that spell, they lost their fluency and allowed Dean Thomas's resourceful Hinckley side to claw their way into the contest.

Telford had started the afternoon with a flurry of corners and it was off the fourth of these that they opened the scoring.

Sean Newton was the provider and Phil Trainer nodded down for Lawrie, whose low shot somehow beat red-faced goalkeeper Ian Deakin.

Hinckley were holding on at that stage and were fortunate to see Smith and Meechan twice spurn further chances.

The hosts' failure to make their domination count was brought into sharp focus just past the half hour as Hinckley got back on level terms.

A Gavin Strachan corner led to chaos in the Telford box and Gary Ricketts saw a shot come back off the bar before the Leicestershire side's Shrewsbury Town loanee Harry Hooman turned in the loose ball.

It was youngster Hooman's first goal in senior football and he clearly enjoyed the moment.

It could have got better for Hinckley, Telford keeper Ryan Young then having to pull off a top drawer save from James Reid before Lloyd Kerry blasted over.

The tide had well-and-truly turned and it was the away side who remained in the ascendancy after the break.

Young once again was the hero of the hour with a fine stop to deny the powerful Jermaine Clarke.

But the pressure was mounting so it was no surprise when Clarke played a sweet one-two with Kerry on 71 minutes and then drilled a shot into the bottom corner.

A shock away win now looked on the cards but Telford finally came out of their slumber to launch a stirring response.

The introduction of substitutes Jon Adams and Andy Brown gave fresh impetus as the flow of the game changed once again.

Time seemed to be running out on Sinton's men when Lawrie blasted in an 87th minute equaliser after winger Smith's goalbound shot had been blocked by a defender.

Telford looked like the more likely winners after that, though they still needed Young to add another save to his collection, tipping a Ricketts header over the bar off the very last move of the match.

The Bucks deserved their point but must surely be concerned at a run of just two wins from their last six outings.

There's still a long way to go but Telford must lift themselves back to the heights of the early weeks of the season if they are to remain in title contention.

Match analysis by Chris Hudson