Earl Richardson's penalty 20 minutes from time secured the points for Dandy Town at St John's Field yesterday after their rather casual approach threatened to let in Somerset for a share of the spoils.

Richardson stepped forward to crash home the spot kick after Trojans' goalkeeper Keenan Tucker had been penalised for a push as he got into a mess in his own six-yard box following a corner.

Tucker had failed to hold the flag kick, which swirled awkwardly in the wind, and his central defender Karl Roberts hoofed the loose ball back up in the air as he tried to clear.

Tucker forced his way through a throng of players to claim it -- unfairly according to referee Gary Cook.

The goalkeeper redeemed himself in stoppage time, diving to his left to brilliantly claw away substitute Kwame Steede's running header -- and the stop would have proved crucial had David Burchall not blazed wide when put clear moments later at the other end.

Town had taken the lead in the 23rd minute, the dominant figure of Devarr Boyles striding through to round Tucker and slip the ball home with the minimum of fuss.

Boyles nearly added a second a minute later, just failing to keep his header from Seyoum Tuzo's right wing cross sufficiently low.

But rather than building on this, Town seemed content to sit back and they were lucky that the Somerset strikers' radar was not functioning properly.

Jermaine Dill couldn't find the net with two attempts as the ball broke to him nine yards out following a goalmouth scramble in the 36th minute. With his first he hit the ball straight at Antoine Lightbourne, who parried his effort back to him, and with his second scuffed his shot wide.

Two minutes later Darron Simons had to help out his defence, clearing from inside his six-yard box as a posse of Trojans players tried to force the ball over the line from a corner.

And five minutes before the interval Rodney Bascome made a diagonal run across the box in front of the Town rearguard to meet Karl Roberts' cross from deep on the right but planted his free header a foot wide.

Town, though, should have made it 2-0 three minutes after the break, Kevin Hurdle picking the ball up in midfield as a Somerset attack broke down and finding himself with only one defender to beat to put him in on goal. He did the hard work, surging past his man and creating a shooting position for himself, but then proceded to blast woefully high and wide from 16 yards.

Ten minutes later Michael Brangman levelled, determinedly brushing aside two limp challenges just inside the Town area and hooking the ball across Lightbourne into the far corner.

Dandy Town: A.Lightbourne, W.Rudo, J.Marshall, S.Smith, E.Richardson, P.Douglas, D.Boyles, H.Wolfe (L.Furbert 71 mins), S.Tuzo, D.Simons, K.Hurdle (K.Steede 62 mins).

Somerset: K.Tucker, A.Rahman, J.Tucker (T.Mallory 84 mins), L.Trew, K.Roberts, Nas.Wade (D.Rahman 84 mins), S.Riley, Nad.Wade, J.Dill (D.Burchall 67 mins), M.Brangman, R.Bascome Referee: Gary Cook Men of the match: D.Boyles (Dandy Town); Karl Roberts (Somerset) Yellow cards: Leslie Trew (Somerset).

Red cards: None