A late equaliser from debutant Tyler Dacres earned The Blues what could turn out to be a valuable point at Coleshill Town, in a tense, hard fought battle at Pack Meadow between 2 sides struggling at the wrong end of the table.

Alex Marshall, for the second away game running, scored a blistering goal, on the half-volley, looping over the keeper to give The Blues the edge in an even first-half, but The Colemen came back strong after the break and netted twice inside the first 15 minutes to lead, before Long Eaton fought back in the final stages to take a share of the spoils.

REPORT:

Long Eaton were without captain Gianluca Bucci, who travelled with the squad, but missed out through suspension, therefore recent signing Ryan Ebanks took his place at centre-half, with James Matthews continuing alongside him. Terry Hawkridge had been struggling all week through illness, but continued in front of the back, whilst in the absence of Bucci, James Taylor was given the captains armband.

On the bench, youngster Owen Murfin missed out through illness, whilst 2 new faces Tyler Dacres and Pierre Ngolo took their place amongst a stronger looking bench.

After a change of ends, possibly with the low afternoon sun a concern, Coleshill kicked off, and immediately lumped the ball out of play for a throw in towards the Long Eaton end.

Less than a minute in, Coleshill had a half-chance with a cross falling to Manners, but he scuffed his effort and Wilson collected the ball easily.

Straight at the other end, Zoko won a free-kick in a very dangerous position, just outside the area. Hawkridge struck the free-kick at the wall, where a Coleshill player blocked with his hands, but the referee wasn't interested and waved away the Blues' protests.

On 7 minutes, a loose Hawkridge pass put Long Eaton on the back foot, but Matthews was able to block the shot for a corner kick.

It wouldn't be until the 17th minute when The Blues had a corner of our own, which both Matthews and Taylor caused the Coleshill defence trouble in the air, before it was scrambled clear.

After this, Coleshill made much of the pressing and had a couple of efforts just wide of Wilson's posts, but in reality, neither side were able to take control of the game, and there hadn't been any clear-cut chances created by either side.

That was until the 31st minute, when a seemingly harmless ball fell to Marshall, who was given a bit too much time and space from 25-yards out, and with the ball dropping nicely, he planted a half-volley over the keeper into the far corner of the net to give Long Eaton the lead from our first effort on target.

An exceptional goal in an otherwise largely quiet first half. The remaining 15 minutes were played out by Long Eaton, with no scares, whilst we didn't look too likely to add another.

Finney and Simmons had linked up well down our left hand side, whilst Taylor was his usual, busy self in the middle of the park.

After the break, the hosts quickly got on top. The Blues looked sluggish and were caught out more than once in the opening exchanges, and the half was barely 5 minutes old when Coleshill were on terms. A free-kick was swung into the box, and the aptly named Marvellous, rose highest to power home a header into the corner of the net, with Wilson, at full stretch, almost clawing his fingertips to it.

Manners and Carter-Byrne both wasted good openings as Coleshill looked to turn the screw on a Blues side which had worked so hard in the first half to carry a lead, but were now, at this point, clearly second best.

The goal looked to be coming, and did so on 57 minutes. Taylor had already had a bit of a loose challenge inside the box, and the midfielder had another bite, this time, he took the man, and after a long pause, the referee blew and pointed to the spot. A fair decision. Daniel Gyasi scored from the spot, despite the best efforts of Wilson, who was trying his best to put the home player off.

Long Eaton were rocking, but managed at this point to stand firm, and slowly, gather a foothold back in the game.

The introduction of Sulkowski, who had been struggling with a foot injury over the past couple of weeks, along with new signing Dacres, who replaced Hawkridge and Chambers-Morgan, injected an extra dimension into the game, and Sulkowski, with his first touch, should have levelled on 71 minutes. Inside the box, the ball fell nicely to him, and his drilled effort seemed to be heading into the corner of the net, but with the keeper rooted to his spot, it whistled just past the post, much to the relief of the Coleshill defence.

Home sub, Coyle had a great chance to put the game to bed, but he shot straight at Wilson from close range on 76 minutes.

With time ticking away, Sulkowski tried his luck from outside the area this time, but Belford was equal to his effort and pushed it away low down.

Long Eaton then got a leveller. Fellow substitute Dacres had looked dangerous on the left, and on 86 minutes, he cut inside and delivered what looked like a cross, which looped over the keeper into the far corner of the net to make it 2-2.

Rejuvenated, Long Eaton then looked to press on and go on to get a winner, but were caught on the break, but this time Sulkowski pulled his player back and took a yellow card - 'one for the team'- to stop a dangerous counter attack.

Long Eaton survived that set-piece and after 47 and a half minutes of second half action, the referee blew to end proceedings.

A 2-2 draw, and just the second time away from home The Blues have avoided defeat this season, and that is also 2 away games unbeaten in a row, for the first time since March.

November 2016 was our last win at Coleshill, so the wait will go on past 10 years, but Long Eaton should be content with a well earned point at Pack Meadow.

FULL TIME: COLESHILL 2 BLUES 2

MATCH STATS:
LINE-UP: Wilson - Coe-Flynn, Simmons, Matthews, Ebanks - Hawkridge (Sulkowski 69), Zoko (Ngolo 81), Taylor (C), Chambers-Morgan (Dacres 69), Finney - Marshall.
SUBS NOT USED: Clark, Szczensy
BOOKINGS: Hawkridge (43) - foul. Sulkowski (90+1) - foul
GOALS: Marshall (31), Dacres (86)
ATTENDANCE: 168