There was nothing to separate hosts Dartford and National League South frontrunners Yeovil after an eventful match on Saturday.

Rhys Murphy put the visitors in front with a penalty before George Alexander headed home to equalise for the Darts.

Another Dartford loanee, Richard Chin, netted for the second league game in a row after the restart. But Jordan Young ensured it finished 2-2.

Mark Cooper’s Glovers had threatened inside four minutes of an eventful encounter, only for vastly experienced Murphy to inexplicably fire wide when clean through at Princes Park.

Three minutes later, home defender Moussa Diarra heroically hooked off the line after Sonny-Blu Lo-Everton had linked up well with Young for the away side.

But the hosts’ defending had been pretty desperate early on. It appeared just a matter of time before Yeovil scored and, after referee Charles Martland had awarded a spot-kick with Lo-Everton going down, 33-year-old Murphy sent keeper Ryan Sandford the wrong way to break the deadlock.

Dartford responded well to going behind, though, in front of a crowd of 1,072 during bitterly cold and windy conditions after heavy overnight rain.

Lone striker Alexander headed home to make it 1-1 on 17 minutes after he had wheeled away from his marker to get on the end of Luke Allen’s delightful delivery to the back post.

Straight from the restart, the visitors almost went back ahead. A Yeovil player tried his luck from the halfway line and the ball fortunately bounced narrowly wide for a corner off Sandford’s back.

Forward Sonny Cox then forced a fingertip save from Sandford before Young’s long-range drive flashed inches over with 36 minutes played.

Four minutes later, a Young free-kick looked to have the beating of Sandford but crashed against the crossbar while Sandford had to use his feet to thwart Cox, 19, as it remained level.

The hosts got away with one after a decent spell of pressure at the start of the second period.

As the Glovers attempted to build a counter-attack, Tyrell Miller-Rodney went in late on a visiting player in midfield. The challenge was so late - in fact - he just about managed to miss the man altogether! Yeovil boss Cooper was furious with the attempted tackle but nothing was given.

Both home full-backs combined on 55 minutes as Maxwell Statham nodded wide left-back Sam Oduadu’s cross, with Glovers’ goalkeeper Joe Day putting pressure on Statham.

On the hour mark, more protests for another away penalty were turned down when Young ended up in a heap in the area amid a goal-mouth scramble.

Both sides made their first substitutions midway through the second period as Paul Rooney came on for Miller-Rodney for the home side while Frank Nouble and Jake Hyde replaced scorer Murphy and Cox.

The Darts went close on 67 minutes. Captain Luke Coulson’s corner was headed wide by Joash Nembhard via fellow defender Diarra.

Just two minutes later, though, the home side were ahead. On-loan Charlton midfielder Chin joined Alexander in netting for the second consecutive league match, capitalising on poor play at the back by the visitors to find the bottom corner.

Yeovil looked for a swift response and Hyde nodded over a drilled pass by fellow substitute Nouble with 17 minutes left.

Chin almost gave Dartford a two-goal cushion when he narrowly missed the target after great play in midfield set up a chance.

But the visitors went straight down the other end to equalise when Young blasted into the bottom corner to set up a grandstand finish.

Hyde flashed a delivery across the face of goal which no Yeovil team-mate could get on the end of in the last minute of normal time before Charlie Cooper sent a strike straight at Sandford in the second of five minutes of stoppage time.

Nembhard went close to a winner at the other end but headed wide a Coulson corner.

The result leaves the Darts four points off the play-offs in 12th. Yeovil, meanwhile, are seven points clear at the summit.

Dartford manager Alan Dowson made a change to his starting line-up which earned a 3-0 home win against play-off occupants Torquay last time out on November 25.

With striker Harvey Bradbury banned due to an accumulation of cautions, Allen came into midfield. That meant Alexander, on loan from Bromley, led the Darts line.

The Glovers, 1-0 winners at Bath on Wednesday night, started one-time Gillingham striker Murphy.

Dartford: Sandford, Diarra, Wynter, Statham, Allen, Odaudu, Coulson, Chin, Alexander, Nembhard, Miller-Rodney (Rooney 65mins). Subs not used: Manor, Woods, Alintop, Wall.

Yeovil Town: Day, Williams, Wannell, Worthington, Young (Maguire-Drew 90mins), Lo-Everton, Dawes, Cox (Hyde 65mins), Smith, Cooper, Murphy (Nouble 65mins). Subs not used: Owers, Idehen.

Referee: Charles Martland.

Attendance: 1,072.