A late comeback from the Ants saw them gain a point after they clawed back a two goal deficit to leave Victoria Park with a point which looked unlikely with 15 minutes to go. The Ants dominated in large spells of this match but a mixture of great goalkeeping from Gareth Hallford and poor finishing saw the Ants struggle to break the deadlock and as often happens they were punished midway through the first half in a bizarre fashion when Ants defender Cameron headed back towards Connolly from a set piece, The big man’s hands hit the bar as he reached for the ball causing him to lose control of the ball which dropped into the net behind him to put Newmains a goal to the good. McCarry and Kelly then had good chances but the ball just wouldn’t go in the home side’s net.
The second half saw much of the same with the Ants doing most of the pressing with Newmains playing on the break, it was on one of these breaks that they extended their lead when MARK CASSIDY scored in the 61st minute. This could have knocked the stuffing out the Ants, but they continued to plug away and GRANT KELLY started the comeback after good work by Brian Henderson in the 79th minute to make it 2-1 to the home side.
BRIAN HENDERSON was causing the home defence all sorts of problems with his direct running and he got his rewards in the 83rd minute when he fired home to equalise at two all with a good finish. O’Hara almost won the game for the Ants in the final minute but his shot was just past the keepers left hand post and it finished all square.
