Dereham Town FC stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to three games as they picked up a hard-earned point with a 1-1 draw away at Bedworth United.
The match at The Oval, Bedworth's Warwickshire ground, drew 179 spectators. The two sides are seperated by just by four places in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division.
The opening 20 minutes were a close contest, with Charlie Clarke linked up neatly with the Magpies' top scorer Ryan Swift frequently across the opening spell, but neither player had a good enough look at goal to trouble Bedworth keeper Sam Lomax.
In their own half, Dereham defender, Richard Black, kept his goalkeeper out of action by winning his headers.
Then, 35 minutes in, Dereham had their best chance. Clarke, using his body well, shimmied his way beyond two Bedworth defenders to break through one-on-one but the stopper stood tall and smothered the chance.
The first half saw both sides struggle to create a clear-cut chance.
Lomax opened the second half with another save, Oli Yun placed a free-kick to the feet of Luke Johnson, his effort saved again by the Greenback's stopper.
Down the other end, Magpies keeper Ross Bilham made a save of his own following a miss-hit clearance that Liam Murphy latched on to. Bilham got down swiftly to claw the ball back from Murphy's quick feet.
But 55 minutes in Dereham broke the deadlock.
Skipper Dion Frary lofted the ball to the back-post bound, Luke Johnson was on the end of Clarke's cushioned return pass to fire home from close range and continue his fine form in front of goal.
Dereham maintained the edge over Bedworth following the goal.
As the game reached the final ten minutes, Ross Bilham produced magnificent reflexes to keep Dunkley's goal-bound effort out of the goal.
Bilham, no more than five minutes later, conceded a penalty. Khaellem Bailey-Nichols slotted it past Bilham, drawing the game level with 84 minutes on the clock.
The closing spell of the game saw both sides intensify the search for a second goal - Oli Yun coming closest as he met a Dereham cross just before full time, Lomax again producing top-class reflexes from close range.
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