Watton United 2, Bungay Town 2

THE Black Dogs scored in the very first and last minutes to secure a well-earned point at Watton on Saturday.

In-between there was not a great deal to divide the sides. The hosts probably has the better chances, hitting a post on one occasion, but neither keeper was seriously tested.

For Bungay the big plus was that they battled to the end and were rewarded with the late equaliser after falling behind with only six minutes of normal time left.

A hold-up caused by a road accident meant they arrived late and then found the kick-off had been brought forward. But they lost no time in taking the lead. With the crowd barely settled in their seats they attacked straight from the kick-off and good play saw Dan Andrews tee up a chance and finish expertly, inside 30 seconds. It was his sixth goal of the season.

But Watton recovered quickly from the shock and struck back with a well-taken goal of their own, with Carl Allibone the scorer. Soon after a forward headed wide from a free-kick. For Bungay, Matt Holmes put Andrews away down the left but there was no-one to take advantage of his low cross. Before half-time Holmes was wide with a header and Kevin Riches tried his luck from long range without success.

The pattern continued after the interval, with both teams mounting attacks but failing to open up clear-cut chances. Then Andrews was felled in the box in the 65th minute — only for the chance of the lead to be sqaundered as Russell Tuffs blazed the penalty-kick high and wide.

A Watton forward volleyed narrowly over the bar and then missed a better chance as a shot went wide, before they did net – but the whistle had already gone for an infringement.

Bungay put together a good move that ended with Tuffs’ effort being deflected for a corner, and Tom Cole made a great tackle to prevent a Watton forward breaking clear.

With six minutes left the home side took the lead when a corner was only half-cleared and Danny Reeve found the roof of the net with a shot on the turn. Shortly after, luck was with the Black Dogs as a header hit the inside of a post and was booted clear by Dale Smith.

But Bungay kept their heads up and pressed forward. James Youngman almost broke clear and Riches saw a low shot from long range comfortably saved. Then, deep into injury time, Tuffs made up for his penalty miss by glancing a header from a Youngman corner past the Watton keeper for the equaliser, and brought a fair result to the game.

Team: G Foyster, M Shipley, S Batt, D Smith, S Whiteman, J Youngman, K Riches, R Tuffs, T Cole, M Holmes (C Jones), D Andrews (S Olley).

Tomorrow Bungay entertain Corton (2.30).