Halifax 2 Margate 2

MARGATE striker Phil Collins left Halifax on Saturday night claiming he scored the goal that earned the Kent club a precious point in a closely contested Nationwide Conference game.

His goalbound shot in the 77th minute took a deflection off Alistair Asher but Collins insisted the strike should be accredited to him.. His argument went uncontested.

Halifax’s Ian Fitzpatrick levelled the scoreline seven minutes from time to deny the visitors the win their plucky performance deserved.

Margate needed to weather a whirlwind start by Halifax with their striker Brian Quailey and Brian Mallon, on loan from Sheffield United, prominent in a series of dangerous attacking forays in the opening quarter.

Ironically, Margate would have led from the 10th minute had Leon Braithwaite not missed an open goal when gathering a long pass from Paul Lamb.

The Margate striker had another effort hooked off the line by Shaun Garnett as the Halifax bench stressed the need for caution against a visiting team searching for a counter-punch at every opportunity.

But Halifax took the lead in the 36th minute when Andy Farrell’s long free kick flew into the Margate net off the unfortunate Jay Saunders.

The wet conditions were never easy for defenders or goalkeepers and Charlie Mitten was lucky when he fumbled a long range shot from Quailey that was cleared just before half-time.

Braithwaite was left marooned up front for long periods but the Margate striker found a rare opportunity to get behind the Halif`ax defence to set-up Phil Collins for a shot that was smothered by the Halifax goalkeeper just after the break.

By now Margate were having most of the play. Jake Leberl shot wide of target but all the pressure the Kent side were mounting was rewarded on the hour when Sam Sodje equalised.

Phil Stoneman’s heavy tackle on Collins was punished by a free kick that Jay Saunders measured for the unmarked Sodje’s head, and the ball flew into the Halifax net.

Sadly, Collins’ 77th minute goal was cancelled out by Fitzpatrick’s 83rd minute equaliser in an absorbing game that left Margate manager Chris Kinnear pleased with the performance after the disappointment of midweek defeat at Farnborough.

With more luck Margate could have sneaked victory in injury time but Simon Beard fired over the Halifax crossbar when more composure was needed to hit the net.

Margate will be strengthened for Saturday’s Nationwide Conference game against Southport at home by the return of John Keister and Terry McFlynn.

Keister missed the Halifax game on African Nations Cup duty for Sierra Leone and Terry McFlynn is available following his appearance for Northern Ireland Under-21s.

Margate have also been heartened by Darren Freeman’s progress after knee surgery. The former Brighton and Gillingham striker has not been available since suffering injury in a pre-season game at Folkestone but he is back in training and could return in a fortnight.

Ian O’Connell expects to return at Christmas after breaking his left leg against Barnet.

The plaster came off this week and doctors are pleased with his recovery.

The multi-million pound re-development of their Hartsdown ground comes before Thanet district council for approval on October 23.

Margate’s ground-share arrangement with Dover expires at the end of the season and the ambitious Nationwide Conference club hope to begin the 2003-2004 season in a new 8,000 capacity stadium at Hartsdown.

Club secretary Ken Tomlinson said: “Chris Kinnear has done a massive job for us since his arrival.

“We have gone from an ordinary Southern League club to Nationwide Conference status in five years, with every hope that we can carry out the directors’ wish to achieve Football League level in the forseeable future.

Team: Charlie Mitten, Paul Lamb, Bill Edwards, Lee Shearer, Graham Porter, Simon Beard, Jay Saunders, Jake Leberl, Phil Collins, Leon Braithwaite, Sam Sodje. Subs: (not used) Aaron Perry, Wesley Hammond, Phil Smith, Mark Munday, Greg Oates.