Pendle 2-2 Lonsdale
A Last grasp goal Lonsdale captain Chris Floodgate denied Pendle all three points and knocked them off the top of the table.
Both sides went in to the game desperate for points. Pendle were looking to maintain their one point lead at the top of the table, whilst Lonsdale were looking for their first points of the season.
Pendle came straight out of the starting blocks, winning a penalty in the first minute of the game when Jordan Hughes was pulled down by Lonsdale keeper Matt Wood.
Harry Kingston stepped up to take the spot kick, but his effort was placed just to Woods left and was comfortably saved.
The penalty gave Lonsdale an early wakeup call, and they began to steady themselves and create some good opportunities.
With that, they managed to open the scoring to the surprise of the Pendle team. A long range shot by skipper Chris Floodgate was parried by Pendle keeper Martin Brewin with the follow up turned in by winger Idriss Dhabi.
From then, the game descended into end to end action with strikes coming from both teams. The best chance came from Pendle when Chris Timm’s shot from the edge of the box crept just over the bar.
Midway through the half, Pendle managed to score a bizarre equaliser. A long throw from the left managed to make it through a sea of Lonsdale defenders and Pendle attackers, which must have surprised Wood as he misread the flight of the ball and failed to gather, allowing Jordan Hughes to tap in from close range.
Pendle began to increasingly dictate the play and put pressure on Wood with plenty of long throws and corners. However, they were unable to create a clear goal scoring opportunity.
Pendle started the second half as they ended the first. Their first chance fell to Rich Barker who blazed over from yards out after Wood had failed to hold onto the ball from the earlier free kick.
Lonsdale began to hit Pendle on the break. They had their first chance of the half when Lee Scott drew Brewin into a good save after a well built up move.
Minutes later, Pendle took the lead they felt they deserved. Chris Timm swivelled on the edge of the box and his shot (which took a slight deflection) managed to creep its way past Wood and into the bottom corner.
Pendle almost increased their lead a few minutes later when Niall Peaker forced Wood into a smart stop.
Lonsdale thought they had won a penalty when defender Tom Forrest was brought down by Tom Schad with minutes to go.
The referee originally gave the penalty but after thinking about it, reversed his decision and awarded a goal kick to Pendle.
This looked to be the end of Lonsdale’s chances and Pendle looked like maintaining their lead at the top.
However, in stoppage time a Lonsdale free kick found its way to the back post where Floodgate was there to turn the ball into the back of the net for a dramatic equalizer with the last kick of the game.
The result means that Pendle are now knocked off the top of the table by County who beat Furness 7-0 in their fixture. However, their title chances remain in a healthy state.
