Steeton Reserves 4

Littletown 4

STEETON Reserves gave a battling performance to gain a share of the points against a strong Littletown side led by Joe Jagger, who was a constant threat.

The visitors almost took the lead early on but Jagger's effort cleared the crossbar and, after 12 minutes, a half-volley from the edge of the penalty area hit the upright before goalkeeper Joe Mash was able to gather the ball.

Jagger's persistence paid off and after 19 minutes he rifled in a fine effort to give his side the lead.

An equaliser almost came when Jack Morrall, an early substitute for the injured Jordan Daniel, latched on to a fine cross from Graham Holmes only to see his effort smartly saved by Cameron Feather in the visitors' goal.

The ball was quickly transferred to the other end of the pitch and Littletown's own early substitute Lee Ryan swept the ball past Mash to double the lead after 36 minutes.

Steeton were unlucky to be two down as defenders Joe Flaherty, Sam Rooke, Nathan Storton and Darragh Davy-Burke were all playing well and coping with most threats more than adequately.

One minute before the interval Will Knight broke away on the right and put in a thunderous drive which Feather pushed spectacularly around the post. From the resulting corner Holmes rose high to nod the ball home to halve the deficit.

Steeton started the second half well and an equaliser seemed likely but Knight, Holmes and Morrall were all thwarted by Feather before the visitors increased their lead in the 53rd minute when Ryan notched up his second goal with a curling shot from 20 yards out.

Littletown increased their lead after 65 minutes when Ryan competed his hat-trick with a superb header from a corner kick.

Steeton stuck to their task and six minutes later a shot from Knight was fumbled by the goalkeeper and Rooke poked the ball home to make it 4-2.

Time and again Feather came to the rescue before he failed to hold a Knight effort and Morrall followed up to reduce the visitors' lead to just one.

Littletown continued to press forward but the home defence stood firm and Mash dealt well with any effort that penetrated the backline.

A leveller came with only a few minutes remaining and it was Morrall who scored it with a fine chip from the corner of the penalty area.