Evesham Utd 1, Tiverton Tn 1

"ANOTHER kick in the teeth", that was how Paul West described Tiverton's late leveller that left Evesham eight points adrift of safety with matches fast running out.

The Common Road manager, though, was far from depressed despite the Robins stretching their winless sequence to ten matches.

"I'm obviously disappointed and I felt that we deserved to win," West declared after the game. "We've just got to plod on. The players hung on in there today against a good side. We were the better team in the second half and had the chances to get the second goal that would have won us the game."

West gave a debut in goal to Redditch keeper Nathan Vaughan, Andy Smith was given a midfield role, while fellow returnee Craig Pountney was left on the bench.

Rob Taylor partnered Shane Benjamin up front but it was a partnership that West honestly admitted "just didn't work".

However, West's gutsy battlers had the better of the opening 45 minutes with Tiverton goalkeeper Mark Ovendale having to be alert to keep out shots from Taylor, Benjamin and Grant Pinkney.

Vaughan was rarely bothered at the opposite end but did produce one fine stop to keep out a shot from James Mudge.

Smith had the home fans reflecting on the past when the midfielder raced fully 50 yards before firing a second half strike over the top but his reward was to follow with 21 minutes left on the watch.

Taylor had lobbed another Evesham chance over Ovendale but wide of the target before West made a double change in the 64th minute to introduce Steve Duncan and Jamie Bailey in place of Pinkney and Adam Blake.

Five minutes later and Smith's surging run down the right ended with a near post cross from which ex-Studley teammate Benjamin neatly notched his first goal in an Evesham shirt.

The second goal that would have sealed only a sixth win of the season never arrived with Ovendale blocking Bailey's 80th minute effort with his legs and that save proved crucial six minutes later.

Vaughan produced a brave block but the loose ball fell kindly for Paul Milsom who netted from six yards.

That was harsh on the Robins who will take great heart from their performance but who will also know that one point just wasn't enough in their current predicament.

West put the equaliser down to "collective naivete" but vowed to battle on on an afternoon when wins for Gloucester, Northwood and Cirencester leaves United stranded alongside Aylesbury and Chesham, whose 1-0 defeat of the Ducks lifted them level on points with the Common Roaders.

"I'm trying to put a squad together - not just a team," West admitted. "I've got 18 players who are all hungry and we will be going out to win every game in a bid to get us out of what is looking more and more like a hopeless situation with other results going against us."