AN INCREDIBLE backs to the wall display earned Evesham a priceless point after they had been reduced to nine men with only half-an-hour on the watch.

Steve Duncan and Lee Knight were the pair to see red cards but amazingly Tuesday's visitors had the audacity to take the lead two minutes into the second period when Rob Taylor netted off an upright.

"We had nine heroes out there tonight", declared proud boss Dave Busst. "I haven't a problem with either player. Steve didn't even deserve a booking from what I saw and Knighty assures me that he just put his arm up to hold him off. Having said that, though, it should never have happened because of what had just happened to Stevie.

"Their players were squealing like little girls all night and the two involved in the incidents went down like they had been shot!"

The Lincolnshire outfit were being jeered by their own fans with Dave Adey hardly having a save to make but, just when the most astonishing of wins appeared on the cards, Grantham levelled in fortunate fashion five minutes from time when the ball fell loose and ricocheted into the United goal.

Glorious

Romi Cammock was then handed a glorious chance to snatch a win but the substitute got his feet tangled up in front of goal following Taylor's cross and Mario Zaccardi gratefully smothered the ball at his feet.

"The players were gutted at the finish that they hadn't taken all three points but the character and fighting spirit that they all showed will serve us well in our battle to stay in this division," Busst who labelled the three officials "a joke" added.

Town's goalkeeper had denied the Robins twice in the opening ten minutes, first saving from Richard Ball and then stopping Richie Robinson's low drive at the foot of a post.

Duncan's retaliatory stamp after being fouled left United down to ten and, bef-ore the free-kick could be taken, a referee's assistant spotted Knight elbowing a Town player at the other end of the pitch and the hosts were given a two-man advantage.

That hardly seemed the case as Evesham battled superbly with Grant Pinkney replacing John Williams at the break and the whole team were applauded off at the finish by Grantham supporters.

Gavin O'Toole will be back in the thick of the action at Mangotsfield on Saturday after serving a one-match ban and he will replace Leon Blake who sits out the match after receiving five bookings.

Duncan and Knight will both start bans at Gloucester next month but the Common Road chief was quick to defend his side's disciplinary record.

"If Stevie had sta-mped on someone intentionally then he would be kicked out of the club," Busst revealed after the game.

"The same happened at Tiverton and we've been punished again for nai-vety. Knighty's Kni- ghty and incidents like tonight are alw-ays going to happen but it's certainly something that I will be discussing with the players."

Premier Division

P W D L F A Pts

Salisbury City 22 17 2 3 43 9 53

Chip'ham Tn 24 16 3 5 45 27 51

Bedford Tn 25 13 6 6 41 31 45

Kings Lynn 25 13 5 7 44 24 44

Banbury Utd 25 10 9 6 41 34 39

Bath City 23 11 6 6 31 17 39

Merthyr Tydfil 23 11 5 7 36 27 38

Mangotsfield 24 9 10 5 44 39 37

Tiverton Tn 23 11 3 9 49 35 36

Rugby Tn 26 10 6 10 44 44 36

Grantham Tn 26 9 7 10 32 33 34

Yate Tn 25 10 4 11 37 48 34

Halesowen Tn 23 8 9 6 30 27 33

Team Bath 23 9 5 9 32 33 32

Hitchin Tn 25 8 8 9 38 45 32

Northwood 25 7 4 14 30 49 25

Evesham Utd 26 5 9 12 29 39 24

Glou'ter City 27 6 6 15 36 48 24

Cirenc'ter Tn 25 7 3 15 23 40 24

Chesham Utd 26 6 6 14 28 54 24

Aylesbury Utd 24 5 8 11 21 37 23

Cheshunt 25 4 6 15 29 46 18