Gravesend & N 1 Exeter 1

A SPECTACULAR strike by Roy Essandoh rescued a point for Gravesend & Northfleet at Stonebridge Road on Saturday.

The Fleet striker struck a delightful 25-yard left-foot shot swerving past visiting keeper Martin Rice with 19 minutes left.

It ended a run of two successive defeats for the home side and delighted Gravesend manager Andy Ford.

He said: “It was a great strike. He hit it with his weaker foot. It took a quality strike like that to get something out of the game.”

It was a rare moment of magic in a game which lacked any real sparkle. Exeter took a 22nd minute lead when Santos Gaia headed in Les Afful’s free-kick.

It was Exeter’s only attempt on goal in the first period, although Gravesend did little better as they failed to test the City defence.

It took the Fleet 64 minutes to register a shot on target, although they did dominate in terms of possession and territory.

The introductions of Moussa Sidibe and Matt Lovell added some much-needed balance to their play and Essandoh’s equaliser was richly deserved. Lee Protheroe was only denied a goal seconds later by an outstretched leg.

However, they lacked enough craft to get behind the visiting defence, who sat deep and put men behind the ball.

“At this level you have to give teams respect and it was difficult to break down,” stressed Ford. “We didn’t quite have the guile to get behind them. It was important to get something out of the game and it would have been unjust had we lost.”

It could have been better for Gravesend had referee Dave Philips given a 81st minute penalty when Manny Omoyinmi was bundled over in the box.

“I watched it on the video and it was a blatant push,” said Ford. “I asked the referee and linesman to come in and look at it but they refused.”

Gravesend: Wilkerson; Skinner, Porter, Shearer, Protheroe; Surey, McKimm, Saunders, Drury; Essandoh, Omoyinmi. Substitutions: Sidibe for Surey 62min, Lovell for Drury 69min, Pinnock for Protheroe 86min. Not used: Mitten, Davis.