CONSETT picked up a point against high-flying Penrith, but were disappointed it wasn't three after leading 2-0 with only 10 minutes to go.

The home side welcomed back David Pounder following Saturday's 6-1 home hammering by Shildon, but were without Jonjo Dickman and captain Carl Piecha, who were injured in that game.

Michael Coulthard came in for Piecha and David Johnson returned, taking the armband in the skipper's absence. Recent injury victims Steven Johnson and Steve Huggins also made welcome returns, albeit on the substitutes' bench.

The match started 10 minutes late due to the late arrival of the Penrith team but neither team let this worry them as the game got off to a frenetic end-to-end start.

Within the first five minutes Chris Scott fired just over from 25 yards after lovely build-up play from Pounder and Gary Ormston, while Adam Emson was sent clear by Ormston, only for Penrith keeper Wills to block his effort.

At the other end, Consett keeper Daniel Staples had to be quick off his line to clear a dangerous through ball, and Matthew Lea shot just wide after Johnson made a hash of a clearance.

Things were beginning to settle down when Consett centre forward Emson broke the deadlock. Left-winger David Gordon played a long ball through, which Emson latched onto before lobbing the visiting goalkeeper from 15 yards.

Midway through the half, proceedings became increasingly scrappy, and Pounder, Scott and Ormston were all shown yellow cards. Scott's was the one controversial moment of the half. The combative midfielder was rightly penalised for a mis-timed sliding tackle. However, his victim, Graham Anthony, then appeared to stamp on Scott's back, and was lucky not to see red.

As the half wore on and the rain began to pour down, Penrith began to control more of the possession, but didn't manage to threaten Staples in the home goal until injury time when Alan Gray shot narrowly over from 20 yards.

Half time: Consett 1-0 Penrith

Thankfully, the rain had eased when the second half started, but no sooner had proceedings got underway there was a lengthy stoppage for an injury to David Johnson. The stand-in skipper was unable to continue, and was replaced by Steven Huggins, who slotted into midfield, with goalmaker David Gordon moving back to defence.

Soon afterwards a typical blockbusting tackle from Scott remarkably turned into a majestic through ball for Emson, who was clean through on goal, but a poor touch gave keeper Wills the advantage and he cleared the ball on the edge of his area.

As with the first half, play quickly shifted to the other end, and Staples produced the save of the game, diving to his right to deny Lea's close-range header.

The Cumbrians' management team had seen enough at this point and made a double substitution, with Craig Wilson and Karl Jackson replacing Alan Gray and William Paul.

Both substitutes injected some pace into the visitors, who looked dangerous for the rest of the game. But just as Penrith looked to be getting a hold of the game, Consett doubled their lead with a goal that would have made any old fans of Wimbledon proud!

The ball was launched straight and high from the back, Penrith didn't deal with it, and Emson was again the man, this time taking one touch before finishing from just inside the area, giving the keeper no chance. While the build up was simple, the finish was beautiful.

The remainder of the half continued without any great incident, and while Consett didn't threaten to add to their lead they looked very comfortable defending it, with centre-halves Coulthard and Scorer especially impressive.

However, the calm was shattered on 80 minutes when a Penrith corner caused havoc in the home side's six-yard box, with giant centre-half Wayne Robertson eventually poking home from close range after an almighty scramble.

Due to the earlier injury to Johnson, referee Clayton added on six minutes of injury time, and three minutes into it disaster struck for Consett as an in-swinging corner produced another monumental goalmouth scramble, with Robertson again forcing the ball home to level the game.

Incredibly, Penrith still had time to force another corner, which produced a third almost-identical scramble, but this time Staples managed to desperately grab the ball.

A Consett side missing a few key players may have taken a point at the start of the evening against a side who went top at the weekend, but will be kicking themselves for conceding twice at set plays in the closing minutes.

Full time: Consett 2-2 Penrith

ANDY BALL