Bowers & Pitsea 1–1 Waltham Abbey

(Knight 81’: Holland 8’)

From the Len Salmon Stadium

Ryman North

 

BOWERS & Pitsea missed out on the chance to close the gap on the play-off places to just one point as they could only claim a draw against ten-man Waltham Abbey.

Rob Small’s side were looking to bounce back from the last-minute defeat to Phoenix Sports last time out and continue their push for the play-offs.

But midfielder Billy Holland put the visitors in front early on and a late strike from David Knight was needed to seal a point following the dismissal of Waltham Abbey’s Daniel Rimmel.

Waltham Abbey took the lead inside eight minutes as Holland’s strike from the edge of the Bowers penalty nestled in the corner of the net, leaving Rhys Madden with no chance.

Bowers pushed for an equaliser but the visitors’ defence held strong and took a 1-0 lead into the break.

But Waltham Abbey went down to ten men on the hour mark.

Left back Rimmel was shown a straight red card for handling the ball on the line. But Brad Warner missed the chance to level matters from the penalty spot.

Warner, who has enjoyed a two-week trial with National League promotion chasers Dagenham & Redbridge, also missed from the spot at Phoenix Sports last week.

With Waltham Abbey down to ten men, the home side pushed for an equaliser and were beginning to wear down the visiting defence.

Knight got Bowers back on level terms with only nine minutes to play.

Lewis Manor, who impressed and caused numerous problems for the Waltham Abbey defence, played a good pass to Knight and the striker slotted the ball into the back of the net.

Bowers continued to push as they looked to bag the three points which would have seen them climb up to sixth in the Ryman North standings.

But Waltham Abbey held on and frustrated Small’s side to claim a share of the spoils.

Bowers & Pitsea: Madden, Clark, Cross, Stokes, Salmon, Sartain (Adams 80’), Manor, Leahy (Coley 80’), Knight, Warner, Hilton (Nyanja 74’)