Southport’s position in the Blue Square North title race has been strengthened during the past week, but they will have left the Valley Stadium with the regret that further progress was not made.
A fine win at Stalybridge Celtic on Tuesday night was followed by confirmation that the Sandgrounders would benifit from the demise of Farsley Celtic and the removal of their results. Yet any sense of satisfaction was tempered in the West Midlands as, for the second successive Saturday, Southport were held to a draw by relegation-threatened opposition.
If the win at Bower Fold in midweek had given cause for optimism, then this probably served as a reality check.
Trailing 2-0 with a quarter of an hour remaining, Southport supporters may have been reminded of their visit to this ground in 2005, when the Sandgrounders had led by the same scoreline, only to leave defeated.
Unfortunately, the events of five years ago could not inspire Southport to complete a full turnaround this time, but while the general feeling was of two points dropped, the overriding emotion will have been relief that the Sandgrounders at least managed to rescue a draw from an afternoon that was going horribly wrong.
Not until Earl Davis rifled home a six-yard volley on 77 minutes did the Sandgrounders finally wake from their slumber, although their late pressure was such that they could have snatched an undeserved win.
After a nondescript first half in which neither side seemed capable of producing football of any quality on a difficult playing surface, the situation went from dismal to disastrous for Southport inside a three-minute spell at the start of the second period.
Rob Marsh-Evans was rightfully shown a second yellow card for hauling down Marco Addagio as he raced into the Southport half, and the Redditch striker was soon on hand to steer the home side into the lead with a blistering drive that flew inside Tony McMillan’s near post from an almost impossible angle.
Southport’s predicament worsened on 68 minutes, Darren Campion sending in a left-wing cross that bounced up and looped over a stranded McMillan, drifting into the top corner.
In part due to a triple substitution and no doubt the realisation that a desperate situation needed rescuing, Southport eventually came to life.
Davis displayed composure to score after Matty McGinn’s throw had not been fully cleared, and the Southport defender should have earned himself further glory soon after, but gave goalkeeper Danny Lewis an easy task with a header from Chris Simm’s cross.
Joe Clarke’s red card for a stamp on Michael Powell restored parity to the number of players on either side, and with five minutes remaining McGinn levelled the score, sliding a low, angled 20-yard free-kick into the bottom corner, following Asa Charlton’s foul on Chris Lever, who by now was operating in the role of makeshift striker.
Redditch United: Danny Lewis, Gary Moran, Asa Charlton, Joe Clarke, Richard Mundy, Darren Campion, Matt Blair, Dave Bridgwater, Shane Benjamine (Danny Schepple 87), Marco Addagio, Michael McGrath.
Subs not used: Myron Semper, Matt Gardner, Dan Carter, Tom Turner.
Southport: Tony McMillan, Chris Lever, Rob Marsh-Evans, Adam Flynn, Earl Davis, Kevin Lee (Shaun Gray 60), Ashley Winn, Michael Powell, Steve Daly (Chris Simm 60), Ciaran Kilheeney (Robbie Booth 60), Matty McGinn.
Subs not used: Bradley Barnes, Sean Lake.
Attendance: 344
Referee: Carl Dunn
Report by Alan Jones
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McGinn scores to make it 2-2