KIERAN Parkin’s 75th-minute goal rescued a point for Brixham as a 2-2 draw pegged back a spirited Newton Abbot Spurs display.

The captain’s strike was the only goal of the second half and came against 10 men after Sam Hancox was dismissed five minutes from the break. An enthralling opening period saw goals from Spurs men Toby Pullman and James Moxon either side of an effort from Brixham’s Aaron Wellington.

‘Sixty minutes with 10 men, people will look at that and say that is a good result and a good point against Brixham,’ said Newton Spurs manager Marc Revell. ‘But we went 2-1 up with 10 men, so we showed we could still be the better side.

‘It’s just frustrating. We haven’t had the rub of the green, losing a couple games lately, but the games I think we deserved more from - and I don’t want to be too biased with this because a draw is probably a fair result; Ivybridge [Town] and Brixham twice, I still think out of those three we probably deserved the win out of at least one and possibly two.’

Spurs started the stronger of the two sides and within 10 minutes had asked big questions of stalwart Fishermen shot-stopper Grant Fisher. Pullman curled a sumptuous ball across the width of the pitch for Nick Rudge, who took a good touch to set himself up for a powerful, curling effort for the top corner. Fisher produced a fine save on the stretch.

The hosts’ early pressure paid off on 15 minutes when Pullman put his side into the lead. A foul committed on the edge of the box as a forward broke through resulted in a free-kick from the right. Pullman chalked up his seventh goal of the season with a blistering strike, directly from the free-kick, which nestled in the corner behind the far post.

Newton were well on top when Brixham levelled at the half-hour mark. A misplaced pass caused what appeared to be a defensive error, allowing Wellington to pounce on the loose ball and fire home a low shot into the bottom corner.

Controversy struck 10 minutes later, when Hancox’s strong challenge on Charlie Johansen was deemed a bookable offence by referee Aiden Madden. A mass brawl erupted between the two teams and Hancox was immediately shown a second yellow card for an altercation in the ensuing melee.

‘I’m not going to get anywhere talking to the ref about it,’ Revell explained. ‘He had already booked me and I’m not going to go and put myself in a position where I ask him to explain it.

‘It was a bit of a melee - there was a melee at the end with some pushing and shoving and he didn’t book anyone then so I think it was a big heat of the moment thing and I think he had to stand by his decision if he’s going to give both people a yellow and he’s already given one a yellow.

‘It’s a bit annoying but I’m not going to complain about referees because you get sick of hearing yourself saying it and at the same time they’ve got a job to do and you’ve got to respect what they do. They get a lot of stick and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt having to handle a big game like that where he has a lot of players on his case.

‘I didn’t feel like we were backs to the wall for the whole 60 minutes. We had a lot of energy and I still think we looked more energetic with 10 than they did with 11. I wasn’t fussed in that sense, it was just how I played the side; we made a sub at half-time, brought Nick Rudge off and put Will Hancox on to give us a bit more energy on the right and played Owen Green back out on the right.

‘I told them to sit tight, suck it up and with 4-4-1, one can join the striker on the break and I think it worked to a certain extent because I think they looked fairly uncomfortable when we broke.’

Despite the personnel setback, Spurs retook the lead with the final kick of the first half. Potent striker Moxon played a neat ball wide for Jaden Bond on the left flank, and he returned the favour in the blink of an eye with a clever delivery back into feet. Moxon turned for goal and fired a bullet of an effort through a crowd of bodies and found the netting behind the far post, with Fisher standing little chance of getting to the strike.

But the man advantage would pay off eventually for the Fishermen, as they reeled in their hosts with a goal 15 minutes from time. Parkin rose to turn a tame header towards goal, but a stroke of luck saw Spurs goalkeeper Joel Patchett lose his footing in the soggy conditions and the ball sailed home.

The Fishermen could well have won the game right at the death. A long free-kick was nodded on in a packed penalty area, and Patchett missed the ball as he raced out to claim it. The ball looked to be heading in until Gav Collins performed an acrobatic clearance off the line.

Revell continued: ’I said at Brixham [1-1 draw at Wall Park] that we were unlucky not to win that game. I am not happy with two points against them [from both games] because I think we deserved four.

‘The lads are again disappointed with a draw. Brixham are fuming they couldn’t put the game to bed against 10-man Spurs, which I can be proud that my lads stuck to my game plan with their backs to the wall and I think we still looked dangerous with 10 men against their 11.

‘I’ll take a point, given the circumstances.’