Oxford City's hearts were broken this afternoon as ten man Leamington scored a controversial last minute goal to salvage a point.

Captain Josh Ashby's late goal looked like giving  them a 1-0 win but in time added on Ant Lynn  nodded home to make it 1-1 in dramatic fashion.

The game hinged on visiting defender Rob Evans' yellow card on the stroke of half time. From that moment on it was just a case of whether City could break down the ten men as they dominated possession, and when Ashby found the breakthrough it looked as though the game was sealed, but Lynn had other ideas and in the end three points had become just the one.

The first half, eleven v 11, also belonged to City with Tom Scott forcing an early save and Ewan Clark firing over as the home side zipped the ball around nicely. The Brakes sat deep and soaked up pressure and then the game began to even up with gaps closing up and the game bogged own in a midfield battle for long spells

City tried to stretch the game with diagonals to set right wing back Jacob Roddy free and that brought some joy- Clark again going close with a drive after 34 minutes and other than a Luke Shaw free kick that flew just wide Leamington had offered little to worry Sam Lewis and his disciplined defence.

Then, as the game ticked into added time, City were given a huge lift when Clark clipped a great ball forward and Scott took it down and was stopped in his tracks by Evans who trudged off immediately, barely waiting for the red card to be shown.

Now City roared forward and Brakes keeper Rogan Ravenhill was forced into two excellent saves within the first two minutes of the second half, getting down well to save from both Scott and Roddy as City looked to press home their advantage.

The Brakes were applying themselves but were also riding their luck. Roddy nodded a delicious Ashby free kick just wide and then clipped a spectacular effort over Ravenhill only to see it land on top of the net just after the hour.

Sub Brayden Daniel's first touch almost forced the issue only for one of the Leaming-ten to race behind Ravenhill and clear the danger,  but Daniel's next action was a break down the left and  send in a low cross that Ashby raced on to and applied a clever finish to spark great scenes among the City faithful

Now it needed stout hearts but when Leamington forced a late corner they sent everyone into the box, including Ravenhill. Lewis seemed to catch the ball and have it headed out of his gloves  and as the ball bobbled around it was forced home and City were left with less than they deserved.

So near, so Spa.

CITY

Lewis, Burroughs (Potter 70), Wiggett, Francis, Roddy, Maragh, Humprey-Ewers, Ashby, Scott (Daniel 70), Clark, Parker

Subs

Treml, Wilson, Johnson, McConnell

ATT:  702

Report by Chris Williams, pictures Simon Godfrey, Darrell Fisher, Steve Daniels