Shaw Lane Aquaforce were held to a 1-1 draw at ten man Basford United in the Evo Stik Division One South.
Experienced striker Lee Morris’ penalty on the stroke of half-time cancelled out Basford’s early opener.
Aquaforce threw everything at their hosts in the second half, but Basford held out for a point.
Basford broke the deadlock in the 12th minute after Robbie McNicholas’ long ball for Fabian Smith was only half dealt with by goalkeeper Ian Deakin
Outside his penalty area, Deakin headed the ball clear, but only to Stuart Hendrie who had time and space to run into the box and score.
Aquaforce were then let off the book when Reuben Wiggins-Thomas blazed over from a good position.
The equaliser came after McNicholas made a complete mess of a simple clearance which allowed Alex Davidson to break away. The full-back brought Davidson down, resulting in a straight red card.
Morris got himself on the scoresheet for the second game in a row by smashing the ball down the middle of the goal.
Aquaforce were the better side for the majority of the second half as Adam Priestley, Jimmy Eyles and captain Matt Thornhill all had good efforts saved.
Basford nearly stole the points at the end as Hendrie’s stunning 25-yard effort was heading for the top corner until Deakin got the slightest of touches on the ball to divert it onto the crossbar.
Shaw Lane Aquaforce: Deakin, Stohrer, O’Brien, Istead, Radford, Jones, Youhill, Sharry, Morris, Thornhill, Davidson. Subs: Meynell, Wafula, Eyles, Priestley.