Hampton and Richmond Borough secured a well-earned draw after a dramatic 2-2 draw away at Billericay Town on Tuesday evening.
The Beavers could have walked away with all three points after the Blues were forced to play the final 12 minutes of the match with ten men; captain Ryan Scott was dismissed for a second bookable offence. Alas, despite striking the post and creating several chances, they couldn’t find that crucial breakthrough.
After weathering an early storm from the home side – including a gaping chance for Callum Watts inside five minutes – it was the visitors who went a goal to the good. Wilson Waweru continued his good form in front of goal after his brace against Truro on Saturday. The Irishman, yet to score with his feet, headed past Finlay Woodham from an inswinging corner from Hayden Barrett to put his side up on the 13-minute mark.
He had the chance to double the lead from the spot ten minutes later. Ryan Scott was adjudged to have handled the ball when attempting to block a shot from the edge of the box. This time, however, Woodham got the better of the forward; diving to his left to parry away what was a tame effort, in truth.
The Blues were awarded a penalty of their own in stoppage time at the end of the first half when Luis Fernandez brought down Elliott Long in the area. Macauley Bonne, his team's league top scorer this season, made no mistake from the spot, sending Jamie Searle the wrong way.
After the interval, Billericay effected an evident change of tactics. Wingers, Long and Jon Benton, swapped sides of the pitch in the hope of crossing balls into the box. And it wasn’t long until that paid dividends. Benton was lively all match, and it was his cross that was flicked on by Bonne to Charlie Ruff, who poked past Searle to give the home side the lead.
Then, controversy. Following nice interplay, Maxi Mullins burst through to what would have been a certain goalscoring opportunity had he not been halted unfairly by Scott.
Firstly, there were questions over whether the foul took place inside the penalty area or not. As the ‘double jeopardy’ ruling states, had the foul been committed inside the box, a penalty would be awarded and a yellow card administered. If it was outside the box, a free kick is awarded and a red card issued for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity.
The referee, however, opted for neither of those things. Instead, he awarded a free kick to Hampton and Richmond and presented a yellow card to Scott. Interim Co-Head Coaches Craig Saunders and Max Kretzschmar were seething, and they had good reason to be.
Nevertheless, there was some justice. The resulting free kick wasn’t the cleanest of hits from Barrett, but nonetheless it managed to sneak through the Billericay wall to nestle in the bottom left corner.
Scott was eventually given his marching orders just four minutes later. After being given the initial reprieve, one would have thought he would have been careful, but instead, a reckless challenge on Wes Fonguck saw the defender receive his first red card of the season, and his side have to hold to a point for the final 12 minutes of the match.
HRBFC came close to snatching all three points. Barrett struck the upright from another free kick – a much cleaner hit than the one he scored. RGC saw a header slip agonisingly wide, and Fonguck snatched at a chance in the box, seeing it fly over the bar.
A few disconsolate faces at the full-time whistle, but as the old adage goes, it’s baby steps. A point, we will hope, is the start of a turnaround in form, as performances are certainly on the up.
The Beavers' next home fixture comes against Maidenhead United on 7th November.
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Written by Paul Edwards