United 2
(Lemonheigh-Evans, 75′, Wynter, 90+8′)
Notts County 2
(Kelly-Evans, 38′, Ellis 49′)
United staged a remarkable late fightback to salvage a 2-2 draw against Notts County on a dramatic afternoon at Plainmoor.
Dion Kelly-Evans gave County a first-half lead, and that was built upon shortly after the restart, with Mark Ellis marking his return to Plainmoor with his team’s second. A Connor Lemonheigh-Evans strike gave Gary Johnson’s side some hope, and just when all hope seemed lost, The Gulls summoned every last ounce of their fighting spirit to level the scores in the dying stages through Ben Wynter.
The Gaffer stuck with the same starting eleven that secured the 2-0 win at Woking last Tuesday, with the only change to the matchday squad coming on the bench, where new loan signing Lucas Tomlinson took the place of Olaf Koszela.
The importance of the match to both sides’ promotion prospects was clearly evident in a closely-fought opening fifteen minutes, with neither side allowed to venture too far into opposition territory.
The first chance of the game fell United’s way in the 18th minute.
Adam Randell did well to hold onto possession on the edge of the penalty area, before producing a superb crossfield ball towards the back post where Scott Boden was left unmarked, however The Gulls’ striker was unfortunately unable to direct his header on target, as his effort drifted wide of the post.
Eight minutes later though, it was the visiting side who came within inches of taking the lead. Kelly-Evans’ cross from the right was delivered towards the penalty spot where Jimmy Knowles met it with a firm header that saw the ball rattle the crossbar before landing straight to County top scorer Kyle Wootton six yards out. With his instinctive effort fired goalwards, Covolan recovered just in time to smother the rebound and keep the scoreline blank.
Just short of the half-hour, the same player threatened again from a set piece, however this time Wootton’s header from a corner was directed into the side netting.
Having gone close twice, it was The Magpies that opened the scoring seven minutes before the interval.
Joe Lewis initially did well to hold off the attentions off Jim O’Brien by the touchline, however with the County man recovering, the ball was reworked to the edge of the box to Kelly-Evans, who dispatched his shot low through a crowd of players to give his side the lead.
That advantage was nearly doubled just before the interval, as a neat spell of passing inside The Gulls’ box left Jake Reeves with a sight of goal, forcing Covolan to tip the ball over the crossbar, leaving the deficit at just the single goal ahead of the change of ends.
There was certainly a decent reaction in the early stages on the second 45 minutes, as Randell’s flick-on saw Boden hook the ball over Steele inside the penalty area, unfortunately though, the ball also cleared the crossbar.
Shortly after though, a familiar face doubled the visitors’ lead.
A County corner was directed to the back stick where Ellis fended off attention to send in a header, and although Asa Hall blocked the first effort, he was powerless to stop the second, with the former Torquay man firing home the loose ball to make it 2-0.
Johnson’s men responded by visibly upping the ante, without seriously troubling Notts debutant Luke Steele in between the sticks.
However, with fifteen minutes to go though – and with their first serious effort on goal – United hit back to drag themselves back into the match.
Billy Waters, on as a substitute, found space on the left to cut back and send in an excellent right-footed cross towards the far post, which Lemonheigh-Evans finished with a confident volley to reduce the arrears.
With the men in yellow now fully focused on regaining parity, County threatened to put the result beyond doubt with a couple of swift counter attacks in the closing stages, however the next decisive moment came some distance from goal.
With Josh Umerah sent on to add some fresh legs to the attack, the referee – upon consultation with his assistant – took issue with two separate aerial challenges in quick succession, and his decision to produce yellow cards on both occasions was met with much surprise and frustration in The Gulls’ camp.
The final stages saw United men set up camp in pursuit of a late leveller, and with almost the last kick of the match, they got it.
The height of Covolan, up in attack for a 97th minute corner, only added to the sense of urgency. Then, moments later, a long throw into the box left Wynter with just enough space to hack his opportunist effort towards goal amid a good old-fashioned scramble, with the officials all agreeing that the ball had crossed the line to leave the final score at 2-2.
The winning run may have come to an end for now, however such was the euphoria that met that late, late leveller, you wouldn’t have known it.
That late intervention saw Johnson’s men climb back to top spot, and they won’t have to wait long for the opportunity to build upon that, with Aldershot the next visitors to Plainmoor on Tuesday evening.
TUFC: 33. Lucas Covolan (GK), 2. Ben Wynter, 7. Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, 8. Asa Hall (c), 11. Jake Andrews (25. Billy Waters, 67′), 12. Adam Randell, 15. Matt Buse (29. Lucas Tomlinson, 56′), 16. Sam Sherring, 19. Scott Boden (35. Josh Umerah, 67′), 21. Dean Moxey, 31. Joe Lewis.
SUBS NOT USED: 1. Shaun MacDonald (GK), 6. Gary Warren.
Yellow Card / Red Card: Umerah, 79′, 88′
NOTTS COUNTY: 31. Luke Steele, 3. Mark Ellis, 4. Jake Reeves, 6. Jim O’Brien (28. Regan Griffiths, 67′), 8. Michael Doyle (c), 9. Kyle Wootton, 13. Connell Rawlinson, 16. Dion Kelly-Evans, 18. Jimmy Knowles (27. Lewis Knight, 58′), 23. Adam Chicksen, 24. Alex Lacey (29. Calvin Miller, HT).
SUBS NOT USED: 11. Enzio Boldewijn, 25. Luke Pilling (GK).