Wrens dent Bulls' title hopes in derby day draw

The visiting Bulls, chasing title glory, went ahead on 27 minutes through Cameron Dear but were pegged back 12 minutes from time by a Kyle Jordan penalty for Wrens.

Ross Goodwin had the game’s first real chance but he stabbed his effort wide on the stretch. Dear’s goal when he was first to react to a saved Craig Mitchell effort.

It was the away side who dominated most of the first half and the opening exchanges of the second-half - and their hopes for victory were strengthened when Rainworth went down to 10 men.

Tomas Poole received a second yellow for a badly-timed challenged on AFC’s goalscorer Dear.

But, despite being at a numerical disadvantage, Craig Denton’s Wrens are made of stern stuff and were awarded a penalty on 78 minutes after Matthew Wilson brought down Nathan Modest. Kyle Jordan stepped up to bury the ball past Jason White.

The Bulls continued relentless pressure into the final minutes, but a string of saves from Andy Francis denied them all three points.

After a lengthy period of stoppage time the referee blew for full-time and against the odds Rainworth had secured a well-earned draw.

Despite the setback, AFC Mansfield are still on course for promotion to the Evo-Stik - even if the title is now out of their hands. Bulls play second placed Pontefract Colleries on Wednesday night.