Southampton Rangers 1

Dandy Town 1

Southampton Rangers and Dandy Town made a mockery of their lowly positions in the Premier Division in yesterday’s exciting bottom-of-the-table clash at Southampton Oval.

Both goals came early in each half, Town taking the lead through Kevin Hurdle’s third goal of the season and Rangers equalising when Khalil Symonds found the net.

There was plenty of excitement at both ends, with Town hanging on for a draw in the closing minutes after having Jah-Quille Stowe, the captain, shown a straight red card by Anthony Francis, the referee, for a two-footed challenge on substitute Ezekiel Stoneham in the 81st minute.

“It was a hard-fought match where either team could have walked away with the victory,” Maurice Lowe, the Rangers coach, said.

“I’m happy for the point but we would have liked to win and maybe with better finishing we could have because we did get some penetration.

“I’m not sad at all, that was a fantastic effort by everyone. It was a hard-fought game by both teams and even the spirit of the game was good, an entertaining match.

“If we continue to play with the quality of the performance that we did today then the points will come.”

Town made three changes to the team that beat Devonshire Cougars in midweek for their first win in the league, with captain Brandon Minors, Ayshaun Smith and K’wonde Lathan all missing from the squad as Stowe took over the captaincy.

Hurdle justified his coach’s decision to start him in attack when he netted in the opening minutes, finishing with a simple tap-in from three yards after Jason Smith did well to smother Angelo Simmons’s long-range effort, which bounced in front of the goalkeeper, but when the ball escaped his clutches, Hurdle was quick to pounce.

The match quickly balanced out as Rangers began testing the Town backline, which contained four teenagers, including the goalkeeper Ajai Daniels.

Hurdle had another chance to add to his tally on the half-hour mark when Damon Ming laid a perfect cross at his feet but the lanky striker side-footed over the bar from 15 yards.

Rangers came closest to equalising minutes later when Keedai Astwood crossed from the left and Vernon Perinchief had two attempts to find the net, the first was blocked before he got another chance with the rebound, only to see Daniels tip the ball over the crossbar.

Excitement continued in the second half, with Jahmel Swan blasting over after good build-up by Town inside the first minute when Ming crossed from the left.

An error by Jahtino Richardson-Martin two minutes later when he miskicked his attempted clearance, created the opening for Rangers’ equaliser as Symonds kept his calm to side-foot past Daniels from 18 yards.

Both teams still had good chances to win the match after that as the excitement continued. Rangers made a double substitution in the 69th minute with Ezekiel Stoneham and Jesse Seymour coming on for Errin Simons and Astwood, who had just supplied a dangerous cross into the six-yard box that went across goal untouched.

Town, who are now undefeated in their past three games, were reduced to ten men when Stowe’s reckless tackle on Stoneham earned him a red card as Town hung on for the point when Daniels made a double save from Symonds and then Seymour.

At the other end, Smith made a point-blank save to deny Jahnazae Swan, the Town substitute striker, as both teams battled right to the end for the winning goal.