AFC Hornchurch 2 Carshalton Athletic 2

For the first 18 minutes of this Ryman League Premier Division game, it looked as though the Robins were trapped in an ongoing nightmare that had resulted in their demolition by Worcester City in midweek, and they were in danger of being swept aside by the in-form Urchins, unbeaten since way back in November.

Early on, Billy Coyne’s long cross from the right dropped on the Carshalton cross-bar as Robins’ keeper Nick Hamann looked on, and a decent penalty claim was ignored by Mr Wright, the match official, when Richard Jolly picked up a headed pass from Craig Faulconbridge to see his first shot saved by Darren Behcet with the follow up appearing to hit the arm of Urchins defender Elliot Styles.

Mr Wright had no such doubt, however, when David Woozley brought down Duane Jackman in the area on 11 minutes to give Jonathan Hunt the chance to put his side ahead from the penalty spot.

Barry Stevens saw his drive from outside the area strike the post as the Robins hit back but, on 18 minutes, Hornchurch went two up when Kenny Beaney’s pass to Orlando Smith in the midfield morass broke down and Hunt had the simple task of crossing into the area for the unmarked Jo Flack to head home.

The Robins were forced to dig deep to stay on terms for the rest of the half as the home team moved forward with confidence, and Karl Murray was the first to find his way into the referee’s book.

But, on 42 minutes, they were back in the game, when Beaney’s free kick hit the arm of a home defender who, on this occasion, failed to get the benefit of the doubt and Faulconbridge exorcised the ghost of his Tuesday miss and reduced the arrears with a well-taken penalty.

On such a difficult surface, effort was more likely to be effective than skill and the Robins showed plenty of this in the second half.

Murray showed his commitment to the cause with an outstanding run from one end of the field to them other before his final shot was blocked at the expense of a corner, but there remained the danger that the Urchins would break away to put the game to sleep with a third goal and Hamann was called on to make a couple of good saves, in particular when he got down well to smother Hunt’s low placed shot from a pass by substitute Ross Wall.

Francis Vines replaced the out-of-sorts Jolly and Smith with recent signing Michael Lee Charles and Stefan Cox, and this resulted in a belated spell of pressure which pinned back Hornchurch in the latter stage of the game.

The pressure was rewarded on 82 minutes, when Woozley on the right wing played a shot pass back to Stevens and the midfielder’s left foot cross into the penalty area found full-back David Ray, who headed the ball back across the goal past Behcet for the equaliser.

Both teams tried for the winner in the final minutes without creating any clear openings, leaving both to be satisfied with a deserved share of the points.

January turned out to be a mixed month for Carshalton with an FA Trophy exit, no league wins or defeats and three respectable league draws, but the team now needs to take advantage of the home five home games at Colston Avenue in February to try to pull away from what still is a dangerously low league position.

Robins: Nick Hamann, David Ray, Rob Watkins, David Woozley, Justyn Roberts, Kenny Beaney, Barry Stevens (Gerry Gonnella), Karl Murray, Craig Faulconbridge, Richard Jolly (Michael Lee Charles), Orlando Smith (Stefan Cox)

Subs not used: Jones Awuah, Joe Dolan

Attendance: 266