A LATE equaliser prevented Hexham taking all three points at Rothbury on Saturday.

The Green and Whites looked set to move into the top six of Northern Alliance Division One, after Kurtis Harvey fired them into a 2-1 lead before half time

But after an 82nd minute home equaliser, Hexham were unable to find a winner. They settled for a 2-2 draw and seventh place in the league.

The game kicked off in challenging conditions, with strong winds and a soft pitch due to rainfall in the build-up to the fixture.

Hexham posed an early threat, and both Sam Mannion and Peter McRoberts forced saves from the home goalkeeper.

On 20 minutes, Andrew Below picked out Mannion on the left. The ball was slid into the path of Owen Murtough, who cut inside and fired a low delivery across the six-yard box. It was diverted into the net by an unfortunate defender to give Hexham a 1-0 lead.

Rothbury equalised on 37 minutes. A scramble ensued after the ball was played into the penalty area, and Hexham were unable to clear their lines before the ball was fired home.

Shortly before half time, Hexham’s Michael Robson carried the ball out from the back, and supplied Murtough, who earned a throw in high up the field.

From the throw, McRoberts turned and pulled the ball back for Harvey to finish low into the let from 10 yards.

Leading 2-1, Hexham had the wind in their favour in the second half. But Rothbury, who withstood considerable pressure, were always a threat on the break.

They equalised after the hosts picked out a free man at the far post, who had time to control the ball and finish to bring the scores level at 2-2.

Manager Martin Lowes praised the performance of his players, and said the team could easily have returned home with all three points.

He added: “We had maybe 60 or 70 per cent of the game, but the wind was howling which made things difficult for both sides.

“Credit to Rothbury, they were dangerous on the break. The equaliser was disappointing but we know we can work on preventing that type of goal. If you switch off, even momentarily as a team, that can happen.

“I can never fault our lads for effort and there are a lot of positives we can take from the game.”