Southampton Rangers 2

Robin Hood 2

Robin Hood had calls for an injury-time penalty turned down by referee Anthony Francis as Southampton Rangers picked up another valuable point yesterday at Southampton Oval despite playing the final hour with ten men.

Hood thought they had earned a penalty when Antwan Russell went down in the box after a challenge from defender Maquel Tankard four minutes into injury time but Francis ruled that the challenge was fair.

“You never know what the referee sees from his angle but from my angle it was not a penalty,” Maurice Lowe, the Rangers coach, said. “My heart did stop for a moment.”

Willie Clemens, the Rangers midfielder, was sent off in the 33rd minute for a reckless tackle on Jaylon Bather, the Hood captain.

Clemens was furious as he left the field in what was his final appearance before heading back to school in the United States. Clemens had a hand in the Rangers opener after just two minutes when he fed Keedai Astwood on the left flank.

Defender Joseph Pereira miskicked as he attempted to clear and Astwood ran into the box before placing his shot into the far bottom corner.

It was the perfect start for a Rangers side looking to stretch their unbeaten run to three games, but their lead lasted just 13 minutes before Hood equalised.

Hood were awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal when Russell was fouled. He took the kick himself and neatly chipped the ball behind the defence for Bather to run through and side-foot past Corey Richardson in goal.

Hood turned the match around six minutes into the second half when they took the lead, Miles Brewer producing a good finish with a low shot inside the post. Brewer should have had a second moments later when he blasted over the bar from about eight yards after a good cross from the right by Lejaun Simmons.

Jesse Seymour, the Rangers midfielder, had the ball in the net minutes later but the effort was ruled out for offside. However, the home side kept up the pressure and were rewarded with an equaliser in the 63rd minute when Burchall drove home at the near post after goalkeeper Jason Simons failed to catch the ball in a crowded area from a corner on the left by Astwood.

Rangers had a few good chances late on as they kept their opponents under pressure with Janeiro Tucker coming on as a substitute for his first appearance of the season. He nearly produced a dramatic winner in the 84th minute with a left-footed shot from the right side of the box that curled inches wide of the far post.

“A neutral just arriving at the field would have been hard-pressed to realise that we only had ten men for as long as we did,” Lowe said.

“It was unfortunate that Willie got sent off because you saw how much of an influence he was in the match.

“In our pre-match presentation we talked about our story, lots of injuries in the beginning of the season and lots of people unavailable, but as the season has gone on we’ve gone from strength to strength and hopefully our opponents recognise now that it’s not an easy match when you come up against Southampton Rangers.”