Evesham United 2, Redditch United 2

GOALS from skipper Harry Austin and substitute Jermaine Hylton helped secure a share of the spoils for the Reds at their Worcestershire neighbours.

But they also had keeper Sam Hornby to thank for two excellent saves late in the game that denied Evesham the win.

The home side created the better of the early chances with Carl Brown having an effort chalked out for offside before Marcus Palmer had a shot cleared off the line.

They finally opened the scoring on 27 minutes when a misunderstanding between Hornby and defender Jordan Anderson saw the two collide and Palmer was able to turn the ball into the empty net.

Reds had had early chances through Harvey Headley and Edwin Ahenkorah but their equaliser was a class finish from Austin who drilled a 22-yard free-kick into the top left corner of the net.

The kick had been awarded after a trip on teenage midfielder Passeka Kargbo and the youngster proved a constant threat to the Evesham defence with his tireless running and silky skills.

Mark Hands fired an effort against the crossbar early in the second half as Redditch looked to take control while Ahenkorah was denied by a good save from home keeper John Bateman.

The introduction of Hylton brought even more pace to an already nippy attack and it was the substitute who grabbed Redditch’s second on 71 minutes, latching on to an Ahenkorah pass before dinking the ball over the keeper.

Further changes seemed to knock Liam McDonald’s side off their stride though and Brown hauled the home side level, slotting home the rebound after his penalty – awarded following Jordan Anderson’s foul on Lindon Dovey – had been saved.

Hornby then did well to keep out a curling Dovey effort – pushing the ball onto the post – and a powerful Matt Sysum header in the last minute.