Spennymoor 3 Telford United 3.

A last-minute thunderbolt by Tyler Forbes earned ten-man Spennymoor a battling point in a controversial 3-3 draw against Telford United at the Brewery Field.

Moors played all of the second half with ten men after centre half James Curtis was harshly dismissed for a foul, but they showed plenty of character again to fight back from 3-1 down and pick up a much-deserved point, with Forbes crashing in the equaliser from 35 yards out deep into stoppage time.

But it looked at 3-1 up as if the Telford bogey would hit Moors again – they have yet to beat them in eight league and cup meetings.

Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley said; “Tyler scored an absolute worldy, and the lads deserve so much credit for battling away. It just shows the group that we’ve got, and their never-say-die attitude shone through. The goal just smacked of justice because some of the referee’s decisions were so arrogant that it was frightening.

“I told the players at half time when we were 3-1 down, that all they could do was win the second half. Telford scored two unbelievable goals, and I told the players at half time that they could feel sorry for themselves and put their shirts in the middle of the dressing room floor and go home, or win the second half. I always felt that playing down the bank in the second half, and if we scored early, then we could get something out of the game. James Roberts’ goal early on gave us a huge lift.

“You couldn’t tell in the second half who had ten men or who had eleven men.

“I thought we were brilliant, and even if we’d come out 3-2 losers in that game, I couldn’t fault the effort of the players. That performance was probably as good as it was last week against Alfreton but in a different way.

“You could see how much the result felt to the management and players after the game.”

Veteran centre half Curtis was dismissed when Telford had just gone 2-1 up for what the referee said was dangerous play, and Ainsley said; “I didn’t think it was a red card for James at all. He’s brought the ball out of the sky unbelievably well, and he’s played it off to the other centre half. Yes, he caught their player, but he was in possession of the ball. I honestly thought that the ref was going to give a free kick to us. There were loads of other talking points in the game. I thought we should have had a penalty, but we didn’t get it, but the ref gave an absolute soft one at our end.

“It was just “me, me, me” from the ref, so it was a brilliant feeling getting the equaliser. I thought we thoroughly deserved it.”

Telford scored the first goal of this eventful game on 12 minutes, when Ellis Deeney – brother of Watford’s Troy – headed in from a corner.

But Moors were level immediately, when the predatory Glen Taylor finished off a great move, when he controlled the ball well, spun, and fired home.

They could have gone further ahead, but Roberts missed a great chance from close range from a Mark Anderson pass.

Moors then thought that they should have had a penalty when Roberts went down under a challenge from Jonathan Royle, but the referee turned their appeals down.

Telford took the lead on 35 minutes when Marcus Dinanga scored a top quality goal, when he curled a right foot shot into the top corner from 25 yards, and they seemed to be heading for victory a few minutes later, when Curtis was red-carded for a high challenge, and Brendon Daniels curled the free kick past Mattie Gould for 3-1.

But Ainsley’s half time talk and reshuffle paid off only a few minutes into the second half, when Roberts glanced home a Stephen Brogan free kick.

The game’s tempo moved up a level, and Telford nearly went 4-2 up when Dinanga got through, but sub Carl Magnay put in a great tackle.

Moors piled the pressure on, with Shane Henry and Taylor both having efforts, and they were furious on 67 minutes when Aaron Williams felled Forbes with a tackle that looked worse than the one involving Curtis, but the referee waved play on.

They had another penalty shout when Henry was brought down, but again the referee wasn’t interested.

However, Moors’ pressure finally paid off in the last minute when Telford partly cleared the ball from a Moors attack, but only as far as Forbes who crashed the ball on the half volley into the top corner to complete a remarkable second half.

The point left Moors in eighth place, level on points with Gateshead, but only four points below third place.

Team; Gould, Forbes, Brogan, Kennedy (sub Cogdon 87), Buddle, Curtis, Roberts, Henry, Taylor, Ramshaw, Anderson (sub Magnay 40).

Subs: Eve, Boyes, Johnson.

Attendance 1077.

In the BetVictor North West League, South Shields had a much-needed 4-1 away win at Gainsborough to put them five points clear at the top, and Whitby were held to a 1-1 draw by Ashton United to put them seventh.

In the North West Division, Dunston were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Colne. Marske’s home game with Ossett United was postponed.