Blues fought out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Great Harwood in the Division Two Trophy on Saturday afternoon.
|
Local derbies between the sides always seem to throw up plenty of talking points and this was no exception, with the first coming on nine minutes when Paul Barrett raced clear for Nelson and was felled by a tackle from behind inside the Harwood penalty area. The referee waved aside Nelson's valid claims for a penalty though.
The Blues had the edge in midfield, but the Harwood defence was well organised and the visitors were quick to counter attack at every opportunity. And it was a quick break which caught out the Nelson defence after 37 minutes when a through ball released Paul Masher, who shot past the advancing keeper to give Harwood the lead.
Nelson struck back within four minutes when Harwood keeper Bobby Harris chose to punch away Steve Whittaker's free kick, and Andy Haworth collected the ball on the edge of the area before blasting home the equaliser into the roof of the net.
With the scores level at half-time it was Nelson who made the better start after the break, and they almost took the lead on 52 minutes when Craig Bradshaw's header across the face of goal was headed against the post by a desperate Harwood defender.
However, the visitors stunned Nelson with a goal out of the blue when Matt Darbyshire lashed in an unstoppable shot on the turn after 61 minutes to put Harwood back in front.
The pattern of the game continued with the Blues on top and deperately trying to find another equaliser. Then, in the dying minutes, after Whittaker had rattled the Harwood post with a 25-yard free-kick, Haworth levelled the scores with a shot through the crowded penalty area on 86 minutes.
In the first period of extra time, Harris could only block Barrett's shot and Whittaker followed up to give Nelson the lead for the first time in the 102nd minute.
Minutes later however Kevin Richardson was sent off for bringing down Darbyshire after he took the ball in what looked like a good tackle.
The ten men of Nelson hung on until the last minute when ironically it was Darbyshire who found space in front of goal and snatched the equaliser to level at 3-3 and force a replay.
