A last minute equaliser from Andreas Kyprianou earned nine man Hadley Wood & Wingate a 3-3 draw in a topsy-turvy encounter with Baldock Town.

It was a frantic first 15 minutes, with both sides showing their attacking intent from kick-off. The home side opened the scoring inside two minutes when Ben Pattie crossed towards Max Kyte, who finished expertly into the bottom corner for a debut goal.

But Baldock Town responded soon after. The unmarked Anthony James hit a left foot volley past Ross Weinrabe, following an Alex Coppin corner, to restore parity for the visitors.

Hadley Wood regained their lead four minutes later. Kyte turned provider, assisting Pattie who fired a low left footed effort across ‘keeper Jack Farmer. Their best chance to increase the lead came almost immediately, when Jake Casey long-range effort troubled Farmer, but no one in blue was there to pounce on the rebound.

Baldock Town then had several chances to score with the busy Luke Gregson’s far post headed going narrowly wide, before his lob attempt was tipped over the bar by Weinrabe.

But the turning point in the game came just before half-time as Hadley Wood right-back Jordan Gibbons received two yellow cards in the space of a minute. The first for dissent was followed by a late challenge that left the home team down to 10 men.

Baldock Town started the second half on the front foot and they made their numerical advantage count on 65 minutes. Gregson tapped in at the back post after Hadley Wood failed to deal with a cross from substitute Luke Hennessey.

The away side applied further pressure and went infront for the first time in the game when James beat the offside trap to grab his second goal of the game with a sweetly struck half volley.

Kyprianou then popped up with an unlikely third goal for Hadley Wood. Williams Aeyei-Danquaii’s determined run down the left produced a cross, which dropped to Kyprianou, who bundled it home within a minute remaining.

And there was still time for some more late drama as Emmanuel Mafuta became the second Hadley Wood player to be given his marching orders in stoppage time, for a professional foul. But the home side held on for a hard fought share of the points.

Hadley Wood & Wingate are next in action when they face Harefield United at home on Saturday 5th November.

By Sam Jones

TEAMS:

Hadley Wood & Wingate - Weinrabe (GK), Gibbons, Aeyei-Danquaii, Sharpe (C), Marriott, Mafuta, Stevenson (Mandeville 75 mins), Casey, Kyte, Pattie (Artimadis 82 mins), Kouroushi (Kyprianou 59 mins).
Unused Subs: Osenie, Isiaih.

Baldock Town - Farmer (GK), Perrin, Pitcairn, Gilbert (Furness 25 mins), Beckwith (C), Barker, Coppin, Gregson, Holland (Hennessey 64 mins), James, Payne
Unused Subs: Morris, Starling, Robertson.

Attendance: 32