Mulhern rescue
SUBSTITUTE Frank Mulhern proved the hero for The Hatters, as the striker planted a 94th-minute header home to earn County a point in a 1-1 draw with Brackley on Saturday.
After Lee Ndlovu had capped a flowing Brackley move to tap the visitors into a second-half lead, substitute Mulhern flicked home Scott Duxbury’s corner with one of the last touches of the game to keep County’s ever-growing unbeaten run alive.
The stalemate with the Saints was a return to league action for the first time in a fortnight for County, after last weekend’s FA Cup heroics in a 3-1 win at League Two side Yeovil Town.
The Hatters finished the tie without the presence of boss Jim Gannon on the touchline, after the ex Motherwell chief was dismissed for a furious altercation with Brackley assistant Mark Noon.
The Hatters had taken to the field with a 4-2-3-1 starting line-up, unchanged from the eleven who begun the tie in Somerset the Saturday prior.
Nyal Bell, one of the three goalscorers in the memorable win, continued up front, whilst Matty Warburton flanked the young striker along with winger Adam Thomas.
The first half began slowly, and remained rather low-key by way of attacking opportunities – although the hosts, going into the game on a mammoth eleven game unbeaten run in all competitions, undoubtedly enjoyed the greater share of possession and chances before the break.
With 10 minutes on the clock, Bell prodded the game’s first corner shy of the right post after a goalmouth scramble, before Warburton saw a fizzing effort deflected past the upright, and another parried away by visiting goalkeeper Danny Lewis.
Kevin Wilkin’s visitors, who’ve made a habit of being hard to break down in their annual trips to Edgeley Park, rarely threatened before the break - and one of County’s form men, midfielder Sam Walker, almost gave Gannon’s in-form side the half-time advantage when his shot flew just past the post.
Rather predictably and frustratingly for the County camp - the visiting Saints did then step up their performance in the second half, proceeding to dominate large parts of the tie after the interval.
And, as the contest reached its hour mark, Wilkin’s play-off chasers got their noses in front – with Lee Ndlovu flicking home at close range Connor Franklin’s delivery from the left, after a lengthy passing move by the away side.
In truth, County didn’t look like getting back on level terms for much of the remainder, although substitute Darren Stephenson cleverly fed Warburton with a backheel into the midfielder’s pat; only for the FA Cup hero’s strike to fly straight into goalkeeper Lewis’ arms.
Their lead was almost doubled seven minutes later, courtesy of a looping header from Connor Hall that evaded the grasp of Ben Hinchliffe but was nodded off the line by Ash Palmer.
With around a quarter of an hour remaining, Sam Minihan bravely threw himself in the way of a Matt Lowe shot that was deflected beyond the right post as Brackley threatened to seal a big three points.
And Palmer headed away Shane Byrne’s freekick moments later, before a couple of minutes following Gannon’s controversial dismissal for an apparent barge on assistant coach Noon who had appeared to swing a leg at the County boss - Hinchliffe brilliantly tipped behind a shot by Ndlovu on the counter.
And, despite County’s tired performance after the break, the flurry of second-half saves and blocks with the score at 1-0 proved crucial, as substitute Mulhern flicked home Scott Duxbury’s near-post corner deep into stoppage time.
The roar which met the full-time whistle told its own story - an impressive unbeaten record (now stretching to twelve games) had been maintained, and fans departed Edgeley Park in high spirits heading into Tuesday night’s scheduled trip to Blyth Spartans.