FOOTBALL.

Maidenhead United 1 Hampton 1

Prior to this match kicking off Hampton's vice-chairman Ken Gazzard described it as the most important game so far in Hampton's development. After the 1-1 draw with Maidenhead United the accolade of "most important match" will now move to the next game, away to Grays Athletic on Thursday evening.

Hampton trailed 1-0 to a seventh-minute goal until the 90th minute when Francis Vines came off the bench to head home a deserved equaliser.

Hampton's main man though was Darren Powell. Not only did he carry out a superb marking job on Maidenhead's main striker Chuk Agudosi but it was Powell, on his one and only foray forward, who provided the cross for Vines to do his stuff. For the bulk of the match the only difference between the two sides was the 25-yard strike by Maidenhead's Steve Brown which caught Hampton's Mark Russell by surprise and off his line. Hampton plugged away gamely but didn't look like getting any luck at all in front of goal.

Players were given precious little time on the ball before defenders were snapping at their heels. Eight players were booked by referee Mr J Patterson, four from each side, though most of them were for petty offences.

Attacking down the slope Hampton looked more positive in the second half and started to open up the Maidenhead defence. Craig Reilly sent over a useful cross in the 56th minute but Nigel Thompson could only guide his header straight to Trevor Roffey, the Maidenhead keeper.

A Powell clearance after 63 minutes cleared the half way line and led to a half-chance for Phil Gallagher but Roffey came out quickly to smother the ball. With two minutes to go Maidenhead threatened to score a second but Powell, again, was there to deflect Gary Attrell's effort away for a corner.

Then came Hampton's equaliser. Andy Gray was fouled from behind and when the free kick was played in Powell was on hand to wrap his long legs around the ball and cross it to Vines who had come on 20 minutes earlier.

Vines doesn't normally miss those and headed home powerfully past Roffey. Referee Patterson added eight minutes for time lost through injuries and time- wasting by Maidenhead and in that period Hampton could have won the game.

Ian Savage struck another dead ball accurately on target and Roffey just managed to get across and divert the ball away for a corner to keep Maidenhead in the game.

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