Nuneaton Borough were denied all three points at Hitchin Town as Lewis Barker snatched a scrappy equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Top Field.
Boro took the lead in the first half when Jack Byrne’s long-range strike beat Millford. Despite struggling to create any chances, Hitchin grabbed an equaliser when Baker tapped into the empty net. After wins over Stratford Town and Coventry City, Nuneaton were denied an early penalty when Benbow’s bicycle effort struck the arm of Daniel Webb. However, the protests were immediately waved away from the referee.
Boro looked the most dangerous throughout the first half and Ryan Edmunds stung the palms of Josh Mollison after Benbow attempted an ambitious 30-yard bicycle kick. After dominating the early exchanges, Jimmy Ginnelly’s side took the lead after 21 minutes when Jack Byrne netted his first goal in the club’s colours. A Boro corner was cleared to the midfielder, who fired into the bottom corner courtesy of a slight deflection. A second goal was agonising close for Nuneaton. First when Benbow was denied by the diving Mllison before Edmund headered over with a free header.
After the interval, Hitchin came out with more bite to their play. Bradley Bell was denied by Tony Breeden before Joel Dhillon’s cross was cleared off the line by Joel Kettle.
With the rain pouring down at Top Field, Kettle nearly made it three goals in three games, but his header was mistimed. The hosts applied more pressure onto Boro in the second half and Alex Marsh struck a low free-kick into the Nuneaton wall after Dec Towers brought Dhillon down on the edge of Breeden’s penalty area. With Hitchin pilling forward, Mitchell Candlin found space to squeeze a low effort in. Unfortunately for the Walsall-loanee, it trickled just wide of Mollison’s goal.
The equaliser came in the closing stages of the game. A Hitchin corner was headed into the air and caused problems for Breeden. The goalkeeper came to collect the ball in the air, but it somehow found itself in the back of the net thanks to Lewis Barker.
Nuneaton nearly grabbed a winner in injury time when a long throw by Clifton fell to Dec Towers, who watched his header go just wide.
