Maidstone United 1 Harlow Town 1

MAIDSTONE got a deserved point against Harlow Town in the Ryman League Premier Division on Saturday despite having to play for nearly 25 minutes with 10 men after Andy Martin was shown a straight red card.

The Stones survived an early spell of Harlow pressure during which the Essex side hit the post twice and took the lead three minutes into injury time with a superb flowing move involving Craig Roser and Lydnen Rowland.

The ball was worked through to Nick Hegley on the left side of the penalty area and he beat one man before poking the ball under the keeper.

A dire second half came to life on the hour mark when Mo Takaloo was lucky to escape with only a yellow card after retaliating.

Three minutes later Harlow equalised with a brilliant finish by Leon Lalite, who crashed the ball in off the crossbar from the edge of the box.

United's chances of a point looked slim when Martin was shown a straight red card for an ill-considered lunge but, ironically, the 10 men played far better without him and could have snatched victory in the closing stages. Takaloo hit the post and Chris Smalling had a header tipped over the bar.

Harlow also forced Pat Mullin into two sharp reflex saves but the final chance fell to Hegley whose shot was just kept out by keeper James Hassell in the third minute of stoppage time.