Football Soham Town Rangers 2 Brentwood Town 2

A PENALTY deep into injury time denied Soham all three points against mid-table Brentwood on Saturday.

Steve Fallon’s men had moved into a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Michael Simpson and Luke Stanley but they failed to see off a late rally from the visitors, which saw them hit two goals inside the final 15 minutes, including a last-gasp penalty.

The draw sees Soham remain in sixth place in the Ryman League Division One North, with a trip to struggling Chatham Town to come on Saturday.

It was an understandably placid start to the game from both sides, as the respective players got back up to speed following a weather-induced three week break.

As the half progressed however, Soham began to exert a measure of control and strike duo Stanley and Robbie Mason both saw shooting efforts scuppered by some excellent, albeit last ditch, defending.

Fallon’s charges finally moved into the lead moments after the 20-minute mark however, as James McCabe delivered a ball from wide deep into the Brentwood box.

Stanley collected and laid off to Buster Harradine, the diminutive wideman picking out Simpson superbly for the Greens captain to mop up from close range.

Though Dan Bircham was forced to tip Steve Butterworth’s stinging shot over the bar, there was little else for him to do as Harradine and Stanley saw further chances slip wide at the other end.

The hosts moved into a commanding 2-0 lead in the run up to the hour mark as Mason collected a ball from deep and passed neatly into Stanley, the front man firing low past the visitors’ goalkeeper.

Some attacking substitutions saw Brentwood throw caution to the wind and the move ultimately paid dividends as, with 10 minutes to go, Abs Thompson poked home from close range after reacting quickest to a rebounded save.

The comeback was completed deep into stoppage time as Alex Read, who was felled in the box, dusted himself down to smash home the equalising penalty.