ALTON 3, TROJANS III 3

ALTON, after four straight wins in Hampshire 2, were held to a hard-fought draw by Trojans thirds at Amery Hill.

Trojans immediately went on the offensive and moved the ball around nicely, starving the home side of possession.

Alton got into their stride, though, with Harry Curtis, Pete Howland and man-of-the-match Richard Spicer starting to control the midfield.

Trojans opened the scoring with a short-corner goal, but Alton responded with a spell of pressure and Stuart Gagen equalised with a shot that took a wicked deflection.

Alton will want to forget the next ten minutes in a hurry. Green cards for Howland (a string of stick tackles) and Tom Singleton (kicking the ball away) reduced them to nine men and Trojans took full advantage to regain the lead.

Alton saw out the remaining penalty time and, back to 11 players, drew level again on the stroke of half-time as Martin Kercher pounced on a loose ball in the circle and forced it over the line.

The yellows upped the pace in the second half and Kercher and Singleton were only denied goals by some fine keeping.

But Alton finally took the lead for the first time. Gagen found space in the circle after being fed by Brogan Fife and slapped the ball into the net.

With ten minutes left, a tough Trojans side forced Alton into some desperate defence. A series of short corners proved to be their undoing as, after failed attempts, Trojans squeezed the ball past Nigel Downing to set up a tense final few minutes.

Trojans were poised to win when a drag flick from another short corner hit Downing on the line, resulting in a penalty stroke. Alton breathed again as the pressure proved too much for the striker who put the flick over the crossbar.