UNLUCKY Heybridge Swifts surrendered a rare home win in the Pitching In Isthmian north division with the last kick of Saturday’s 3-3 home draw against Redbridge, writes JON LONGMAN.
Swifts conceded a free-kick in the tenth minute of time added on and Malachi Napa struck the equaliser before referee Charlie Roberts blew the final whistle.
Swifts' home form has been dismal this season and they have picked up more points on the road.
However, they grabbed an interval lead against the run of play three minutes before the break when Andy Fennell’s effort was blocked and went skywards, coming down to the far side of the pitch.
Harry Critchley brought the ball under control before crossing to find Charlie Stimson nodding the ball into the net unopposed at the far post.
Redbridge hit back after the interval to take a deserved 2-1 lead when Fotsing Wabo and then Napa scored in the 49th and 56th minutes respectively.
The deficit fired up the Swifts and Stimson equalised in the 76th minute, heading home Kane Munday’s teasing corner from close range.
Eddie Carrington Alberdi engineered a 3-2 lead five minutes from time when Redbridge failed to clear and fellow substitute Kojo Apenteng tapped in the rebound only for Napa to snatch a point with the last kick.
Even the Swifts good away form deserted them on Tuesday as they lost 2-1 in the rearranged league fixture at Tilbury.
With keeper Callum Chafer back after a long injury lay-off, the Swifts slumped to a 2-1 defeat against ten-man Tilbury.
Alex Hernandes fired Tilbury into a 14th minute lead and former Swift Kieran Jones doubled the home advantage on the half hour.
Trailing 2-0 at the break, Swifts clawed their way back into the contest just six minutes into the second half when Kojo Apenteng halved the arrears.
Tilbury were reduced to ten men two minutes later when another former Swift Darren Phillips, who had started the season at Maldon & Tiptree, was shown a straight red.
The Swifts failed to make the most of the manpower advantage despite a flurry of substitutions by manager Julian Dicks and it was surprising that striker Andy Fennell remained on the bench.
Next up for the Swifts is a league game at Concord Rangers on Saturday (3pm) followed by a home game against Mildenhall on Saturday week and then the abandoned game at Witham has been re-arranged for March 18 (7.45pm).
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