Mildenhall Town 2, Grays Athletic 2

GRAYS were made to pay for failing to take advantage of a multitude of chances, particularly in the second half when they played with the advantage of the slope at the Riverside Stadium, and in the end were caught out by an equalising goal in added time.

This was just the sixth meeting between the clubs who have around 300 years of history between them, and Saturday's draw (10 August) means the Suffolk side have yet to register a win, drawing three and Grays winning the other three, including an FA Cup clash in 2000 which saw the Blues go on to reach the first round proper.

That's something Grays will be hoping to repeat after they take on Essex rivals, Witham Town, at Chadfields next Sunday (18 August, ko 3pm) in the FA Cup Preliminary Round.

They go into that match slightly frustrated by only sharing the points this weekend after created more than enough opportunities to come away with all three.

Blues started the game without recent top performer Alejandro Machado, who is out for an extended period with an ankle injury.

However, Grays made most of the early running, especially out wide, where Bobby Unwin was seeing a lot of the ball and Aron Gordon was causing the home side some torment.

Alex Moss was also overlapping well down the wing and giving the home defence plenty to think about. Mildenhall were relying largely on the long ball from the back but were also showing skill and Jake Chambers-Shaw produced a fine cross but no-one was on hand to get on the end.

Blues' pressure finally paid off on 20 minutes when Unwin and Gordon swapped wings. Unwin played a lovely one-two with Moss and the cross eventually fell to Elliott Sartorius, who finished from close range.

The home side were not behind for long. Full back Ben Nolan was given way too much space out wide right and, with time to measure a cross, picked out Adam Capel unmarked in the box and he thundered home an equalising header.

The home side now had the wind in their sails and Alfie Connor sent a dangerous ball skimming across the Blues' six yard box, but fortunately for the visitors, it continued out past the far post.

However, eight minutes before the break, Blues were back in front. Moss's cross was fumbled by home keeper, Josh Pope, leaving Unwin with the simplest of opportunities to tap the ball home to make it 2-1.

Pope was luckier moments later when after a series of corners, he dropped the ball but was fortunate to see his defence scramble the ball away. And there was still time for both Luke Hirst, set up by tenacious work from Sid Walker, and Unwin again to create further chances that went begging.

Blues came out for the second half looking to make further inroads and they created a host of presentable chances but simply weren't clinical enough in front of goal to make the possession count.

Unwin shot just wide and then Sartorius brought a fine save out of Pope but there was no Blue shirt following in for the rebound. Gordon also called Pope into action before Hirst intercepted a short back pass but was closed down by the home defence before he could get his shot away - although eventually his ball into the box caused a game of pinball in the Mildenhall area that came to nothing.

For long periods, the home side were unable to mount any serious attack on the Grays goal. When they did go forward, full back Nolan continued to look the most dangerous and his cross on the hour mark deserved a team mate to find a finish.

Back at the other end, sub Louis Remi produced some fine ball control to set up Sartorius for yet another Blues chance, but he shot straight at the keeper. And then Matas Skarna, off the bench, had a shot deflected for a corner, which fell to Jack Humphrey who scuffed the chance.

With five minutes left there was an almighty scramble in the Blues box with boots and bodies flying in all directions, only ending when Grays keeper Danny Sambridge managed to fall on the ball and hold on tight.

But it wasn't to be enough to save the win.

With the watch past 90 minutes, another ball thrown into the Blues box was met bravely by the head of sub Jarid Robson to bring the scores level – and Mildenhall might even have nicked it with a couple of chances in the closing moments.