Alton Town 2, Fawley 2

RELIEVED Alton halted their three-game losing streak with a valuable point against Fawley at The Enclosure on Tuesday night.

But poor defending at the start of the game again cost them dear and meant that they had to come from two down – only securing a point in the last minute of the game.

With Saturday’s scheduled league game against Romsey Town falling victim to the wet weather which plagued the region at the weekend, the players should have been fresh and up for the challenge on Tuesday.

And so it proved as Alton started brightly and Scott Sanderson had a shot after only 35 seconds that forced Jamie Bruce in the Fawley goal to make a full-length save.

Stuart Green and Jack Fowler then combined, but the latter’s poor touch allowed the visiting goalkeeper to save at the expense of a corner.

And Matt Grindel’s free kick was too long before Fawley finally created their first chance as Hartigan had a shot that Harry Birchnall saved in the Alton goal.

But despite their good start, Alton were soon caught out and found themselves a goal down. Jamie Phillips moved forward from right back but the move broke down, which allowed Fawley to play the ball into the space he had left behind, and this was used to great effect by Michael MacLeod, who whipped a ball across the six-yard box and gave Lewis Conners the easiest of chances to score.

Fawley immediately had a chance to increase their lead but in a goalmouth scramble the ball hit the post and bounced into the grateful arms of Birchnall.

At the other end, the Brewers were also denied by the goal frame when Oli Graham’s header came back off the post – and their misery was compounded when Fawley doubled their lead. Once again the ball was played into the area behind Phillips, and with the rest of the defence shuffling across to cover the ball was moved out to Alton’s left, and the cross allowed MacLeod a free header, again giving Birchnall no chance.

With the second goal it appeared that Fawley thought that was job done and got men behind the ball and allowed Alton a fair amount of possession, but their plan almost backfired as Luke Perkins hit the bar and then, on the stroke of half time, a cross from Fowler appeared to hit the outstretched arm of a Fawley defender, but with Alton appealing for a penalty the referee awarded a corner.

Alton laid siege to the Fawley goal at the start of the second half as Fawley appeared to be happy to defend their two-goal lead.

Sanderson had a shot deflected for a corner as Fawley defended deep and got men behind the ball.

It was going to take something special to break them down, and so it proved as Perkins picked the ball up in midfield and with players left and right he chose to shot from 30 yards to give Alton hope, a shot which flew into the top corner with Bruce rooted to the spot.

Perkins’ pace began to trouble Fawley, but they still defended deep and in numbers and Alton were unable to create any clearcut chances despite their dominance.

But in the 89th minute, Phil Moore grabbed the equaliser that Alton’s probing play deserved. The ball was played out to him in the right back position and he had the time to look up and see the keeper off his line and out of position before sending his shot sailing into the net to give Alton a deserved draw.

Despite the valiant comeback, Alton will look at this game as two points lost. They need to start putting their chances away when they are on top early in games, starting on Saturday when they travel to the Isle of Wight to take on Newport (kick-off 3pm).

Alton: Birchnall, Phillips, M Graham, O Graham, Moore, Grindel, Green, Benham, Sanderson, Perkins, Fowler. Subs: Bowerman, Evans, Black.