Dandy Town 2

Robin Hood 2

Antwan Russell, the Robin Hood striker, denied Dandy Town Hornets, his former team their first win of the season when he struck a brilliant last-gasp equaliser at St John’s Field in the Premier Division.

Russell followed up from a free kick to drive home from the edge of the box with a shot that struck the underside of the crossbar and dropped over the line, sparking frantic celebrations among his team-mates.

It capped off a hugely-entertaining finale to the encounter, with three goals in the last ten minutes.

Hood midfielder Shaun Brown, another former Hornets player, broke the deadlock in the 61st minute for the visiting side, only for the league champions to turn it around with goals from Brandon Minors and substitute Kevin Hurdle.

Russell’s fourth goal of the season, however, denied Hornets the three points at the death.

A draw looked a fair result, although Hornets could consider themselves unlucky after having a first-half effort denied and then a goal ruled out for offside after the break.

Midway through the first half Tomiko Goater was the quickest to react after a save by Jason Simons, the Hood goalkeeper, from a Seion Darrell effort and hit the inside of the far post with his shot before the diving Simons collected the ball on the goalline.

Hornets then had another goal disallowed before Russell’s leveller, this time Damon Ming was adjudged to have been offside.

After three straight defeats, Jomar Wilkinson, the Town coach, admitted he was relieved that his team had stopped the rot but disappointed they had not hung on for victory.

“I’m definitely disappointed that we didn’t get the three points today,” Wilkinson said.

“My team showed a lot of character to come from 1-0 down and it seemed like every call went against us, but they stuck in there and kept battling.

“I thought Damon’s offside was very questionable but my team showed a lot of character today and I’m proud of them.

“We’re on the board now and that’s what’s important. Four games, one point is not what we expected but we have to move on.”

Hornets had a good share of the possession in the first half but created few clear-cut chances. Wilkinson shuffled his team’s attack early in the second half, bringing on Angelo Simmons for Goater and then replacing Temiko Wilson with Kevin Hurdle on the hour mark.

A minute later, Hood broke the deadlock with a well-taken effort from Brown after Russell laid the ball into his path from a free kick. Brown smashed his shot into the roof of the net from the edge of the box.

Brown’s goal made up for a miss moments earlier when he side-footed over the bar from a good position.

The goal injected new life into the game as Jaylon Bather smashed a left-footed shot against the Town crossbar from 20 yards.

Tre Dill then had a shot from close range blocked by Ajai Daniels, the Town goalkeeper, as Hood enjoyed a good spell.

Hood were made to pay for their misses, however, with Hornets equalising in the 80th minute when their captain Minors, playing his first match of the season, drove his left-footed free kick through a gap in the Hood wall after Ayshaun Smith had been fouled outside the box.

Hurdle, 37, showed that he still possesses a scoring threat, netting in the 85th minute from a Frankson cross to hand Hornets the lead, much to the joy of the home supporters.

Russell, however, broke Hornets’ hearts when he smashed home in the 90th minute to deny Town a hard-fought victory.

“Dandy Town had the first half but in the second half I knew my team could get better because we hadn’t played in three weeks,” Kyle Lightbourne, the Hood coach, said.

“When we started playing the ball in space that caused them a few problems.

“At 1-0, it looked like only one team was going to win it, but we didn’t get that second goal.

“We dug in, though, and showed we’ve got a lot of character in our team.

“That’s what I will take from today’s game — guys prepared to fight for it and that’s what I want to see from my team.

“We showed we didn’t want to be beaten and I’m proud of my players today, even though it was a draw.”