Bury Town 2 Staines Town 2

Both sides have enjoyed good FA Cup runs recently, and had their eyes on a £7500 prize pot for winning at Ram Meadow.

Staines threatened to kill the game off almost before it had started.

The visitors made a dream start, and for a while in the first quarter of the game threatened to kill the game off almost before it had started.

Only 100 seconds had elapsed when a Griffiths corner was crossed by Gordon into the box, where defender Andrews could only volley the ball against his raised arms, leaving referee Mr Rock no option but to award a penalty.

Forty seconds later, Leroy Griffiths had confidently despatched it into the corner for 1-0.

But the goal came at a price, as skipper Gordon, having passed a pre-match test, jarred his hamstring once more, and was immediately replaced by Orlu, with fears of a lay-off of several weeks: the armband was passed to Scarlett.

As Staines piled on the pressure, the lively Walcott had a low shot to which Bullard made a fine diving save, the defender’s handball 20 yard s out being punished by a free kick that Mingle thumped into the wall.

The loose ball eventually rebounded to Scarlett, whose cross-shot was touched over the bar.

However, after surviving a 20 minute pounding from Staines,

Bury came back into the game, with Bullard firing just off target before they got back on terms in the 24th.

A ball out of defence saw Orlu tussle with a defender on the halfway line, where the Staines man was penalised for shirt-pulling. Bury caught the visitors on the back-foot by taking the free-kick quickly, putting Kieran Leabon into space for a good finish.

Jackson’s late tackle on Henderson brought Staines the first yellow card of the match, but Bury almost exacted greater punishment when the free-kick was played to Reed, who saw his volley headed out for a corner.

However, Staines were not behind for long, as they regained the upper hand, and scored again in the 34th.

A scintillating move involving Steer and Scarlett at the back, and went on via Griffiths and Orlu on the left, shepherded the ball forward to Marc Charles-Smith, who showed great skill after receiving just outside the box.

He spun away from his marker, and then hit an audacious cross shot which dropped and curled in perfectly to the far top corner. Staines continued to look for the killer goal in the minutes that remained before the interval, with Orlu going closest when he rose to head a Griffiths corner into the side-netting.

Apart from an early Charles-Smith header that was hooked away three yards out, the second half was a totally different story, however, with Bury now in inspired form, keeping Staines pegged back for long spells.

The pressure was briefly relieved by Charles-Smith – who was in superb form for the visitors – touching the ball one side of a defender and running the other, and then sidestepping the ‘keeper, only to find that this time the angle was just too tight even for him.

On the hour, a Staines corner was swept upfield, and Griffiths halted the attack with a trip on Henderson that brought a caution.

Scowcroft sent a header just over the bar from a deep Bury cross, and the hosts had a big penalty appeal dismissed after a left-sided drive was blocked. Steward marauded up from the back, seeing one effort blocked following a corner, and he too headed just over the bar.

With 10 minutes left, Bury served warning of what was to come, as Coulson drove a low hard free kick that deflected for a corner, and Wells was soon in action again flicking away a hanging cross by Andrews.

Staines subsbed their second captain of the afternoon when Kamara came on to bolster the defence, but Bury continued to pressurise.

The home side allowed themselves to get a bit frustrated, however, as both Bullard and Leabon were booked for dissent.

When Brown made a vital tackle in the 89th minute, it seemed that Staines would hold on for victory, and Griffiths might have made sure but volleyed Kamara’s through-ball into the side netting.

But in the third added minute, Ifura committed a foul a little outside the box, the wall lined up tiredly, and Mark Coulson curled a stunning free kick round the wall and into the gap to equalise.

There was still time for a Steer shot, and for Charles-Smith to block a Bury drive, but Staines might yet have won the tie in the 6th extra minute, when a defender slipped instead of clearing Charles-Smith’s low cross, leaving Griffiths with only the ‘keeper to beat, but Garnham pulled off a fine save. Kearns was the NLP Man of the Match.

The sides now meet again on Tuesday at Staines.

Staines: Wells; Jackson, Steer, Gordon © (Orlu 4), Ifura, Scarlett (Kamara 87), Charles-Smith, D Brown, Griffiths, Walcott (Risbridger 79), Mingle; unused Harris, King, Taylor, Courtnage (gk).

Bury: Garnham, Kearns, Coulson, Steward (Hipperson 72), Nunn, Bullard ©, Andrews, Scowcroft, Leabon, L Reed, Henderson; unused Nurse, Chaplin, Sloots, Short, S Reed (gk), Pope.

Ref: D Rock (Hertford); ARs DW Pike (Letchworth), A Medlock (Biggleswade); Att 918.