With the wind to their advantage, the visitors were able assert themselves early in the match and went close on two occasions inside the first five minutes. The first chance fell inside the opening minute for the Lions as Sacha Markelic took a volley on from the edge of the box which went narrowly wide of the far post. The visitors would again go close minutes later as Yellows would have to rely on Mason Rowley to stop Jamie Sleigh from firing the visitors in front. However, it was Yellows who would take the lead thanks to a short corner routine from Abdul Saad and Brad Wells. The latter was left with space for a shot inside the box and managed to poke the ball past the familiar face of Louis Kinnerley at the near post.

There was no let up from the visitors though who continued to probe and got their reward just ten minutes later. After some good defending by Yellows Skipper Aaron Short initially, the rebound would fall kindly to Sleigh who simply couldn’t miss and brought the visitors back on level terms. The turnaround would be complete fifteen minutes later as Zachery Biggs was unable to claim a cross from the right, allowing Sleigh to bag himself a brace for the afternoon as he tidied the ball home from close range. Biggs would make amends on the stroke of half time as he produced a superb save to keep the game within reach for Yellows at the break.

The second forty-five told a different tale as it was the home side who came racing out the blocks and had levelled the scoring within a minute. It was a moment of magic from Brad Wells who cut in off the right before unleashing a wonderful strike on his favoured left foot, leaving Kinnerley stranded as the ball nestled in the top corner. Kinnerley would again be called into action to produce a smart save from Brad Lathall’s long range strike before denying Daniel Odunaiya one on one. Heanor were not without chances of their own as a long-range effort looped over Biggs but came back of the bar to Yellows relief. The game would swing back in favour of the hosts on the hour mark as Wells found himself through on goal after a scuffed clearance before being brought down cynically by Nice who was rightly given his marching orders. Yellows would continue to bring the best out of former stopper Kinnerley who was on hand again to deny substitute Ayleal Dill after a lovely ball through from Max Scoular. For the final quarter of an hour Yellows continued to probe but to no avail as the visitor’s limited chances to few and far between, ensuring that the points were shared on this occasion.

Manager Reece Limbert gave an honest account speaking after the match. “We got off to a great start with Abdul Saad and Brad Wells combining well with the later scoring a great goal in the first few minutes. We appeared to take our foot off the gas after we scored and really struggled to kick on after taking the lead and Heanor punished us, scoring two quick goals and pegging us back. Zac Biggs made a great save just before half time and he kept us in it going into half-time. The first half we were below par and dropped our standards massively and that isn’t acceptable. We deserved to be behind and had to be much better second half. We did just that and dominated the half, scoring almost instantly after the break. We kicked on and kept testing the Heanor Town keeper but sadly couldn’t find the breakthrough and had to settle for a hard fought point. It’s still in our hands despite results around us today and we have to ensure we are better out of the blocks going forward”.

Yellows will be disappointed not to have come away with the win having had the man advantage for the majority of the second half but will need to refocus quickly ahead of a crucial week of fixtures.