The Reds were unlucky to come away from the Autonet Insurance Stadium with only a 3-3 draw against NPL West Division side Kidsgrove Athletic this afternoon. Our hosts went ahead in the fifth minute when despite the efforts from Josh Madeley, the young defender was unable to stop the cross from flashing across the 6 yard box, where Kieran Brown was unmarked to fire home unmarked.

Undeterred, the Reds pushed forwards and only the crossbar stopped Skelton from equalising. The equaliser wasn’t long coming and on 14 minutes, after a beautiful passage of play in midfield, James Rowland found Jordan Evans, who showed brilliant composure to round the keeper and slot home. The Reds went ahead on 21 minutes thanks to a thunderbolt screamer from Dan Skelton from just outside the area. The crossbar was later clanged again, this time from Ivan. As the half time whistle blew, the Reds were well worth the lead

Moments into the 2nd half, the hosts were reduced to 10 men as their No5 was shown a straight red, for foul and abusive language directed towards the linesman. This seemed to galvanise the hosts, that was until the Reds scored their 3rd goal, this time from the unlikely source of George Carpenter, who evaded the offside trap to break clear and lob the keeper. As the travelling supporters were still celebrating, the hosts did to us what we’d just done to them, as they broke the offside trap and Kieran Brown was again on the end of a cross to reduce the arrears

Just as it looked like the Reds would hold on for the win, Brown was adjudged to have been fouled in the box. The referee had to consult with his assistant before giving the penalty. Bergin sent Ash Rawlins the wrong way

We move onto Tuesday night when Sky Bet League 2 side Crewe Alex visit the KMJ Mortgages Stadium 7:30pm kick off