NEWENT Town fought back to earn a dramatic 3-3 draw against Chipping Sodbury Town at Wildsmith Meadow after Elliott Vanstone’s late equaliser rescued a point in an entertaining Uhlsport Hellenic League encounter on Tuesday night.

After opening their league campaign with a 2-2 draw against Studley, the Daffs were again involved in a thrilling contest, showing plenty of character to twice come from behind in front of an attendance of 86.

The hosts could not have wished for a better start as Daniel Gayner struck almost immediately to put Newent ahead. The forward calmly slotted home inside the opening minutes to spark celebrations around Wildsmith Meadow.

The visitors nearly responded instantly, however, with a headed effort drifting narrowly over the crossbar as the match developed into an open, end to end affair.

Chipping Sodbury soon found their equaliser after 15 minutes through a well worked move which ended with a simple finish from close range, making it 1-1.

Their momentum continued as the visitors turned the game around soon afterwards. Goalkeeper Adam Clark produced an initial save, but the rebound fell kindly for the advancing striker, who made no mistake in converting to hand Chipping Sodbury a 2-1 advantage.

Newent refused to let the setback derail them and drew level just before the interval. Gayner was in the right place at the far post to power home a header, completing his brace and ensuring the teams went into half time locked together at 2-2.

The second half brought fresh problems for the Daffs, with both Luke Firkin and Ibrahim Akhlaq forced off through injury, disrupting the hosts' rhythm.

Chipping Sodbury took advantage, breaking quickly before clinically finishing into the top corner to restore their lead at 3-2.

Newent continued to push forward in search of another equaliser and came agonisingly close when an effort crashed against the crossbar.

Tyler Weir then saw a fierce strike whistle narrowly over the top corner as the pressure mounted during the closing stages.

Their persistence finally paid off when Vanstone showed great composure to lift the ball over the advancing goalkeeper and into the net, making it 3-3 and capping another determined comeback by the home side.

There was still time for one final opportunity as Newent won a late corner. The resulting header flew only inches over the crossbar, denying the Daffs what would have been a dramatic winner.

Instead, both sides had to settle for a point after an entertaining evening in which the momentum swung repeatedly between the two teams.

While Newent will be disappointed not to have claimed all three points after their late pressure, they will also take encouragement from their resilience after twice recovering from losing positions and coping with injuries during the second half.

The draw leaves the Daffs with two points from their opening two league matches and continues an unbeaten start to the new Hellenic League campaign.

With Gayner already scoring twice and Vanstone delivering an important late contribution, there were plenty of positives for Newent to take into their next fixture despite missing out on victory in another action packed contest.