Walthamstow picked up a value point on the road on Saturday after a 1-1 draw away at second-placed Felixstowe & Walton United in the Isthmian League.
It was a mix of emotions at full time, with Stow believing it was two points dropped at the final whistle.
Both sides started the first half equally, with Felixstowe having the more clear-cut chances but weren’t clinical in the final third. There were shouts for a penalty on the half hour mark when David Hughes was judged to have taken out Jose Santa De La Paz in the box, but it was waved away by the referee.
Four minutes later, Stow were the ones to open the scoring. Jordan Peart received the ball out on the left-hand side and drove to the byline where he cut the ball back for Chris Regis to find the net for his debut goal and give the blues the lead.
It was all one-way traffic for Stow, with Brian Garzon heading just over from a Wilson Bernal cross, and Demi Elegushi’s deflected effort pushed off the line by goalkeeper Harry Wright.
Stow continued to pile on the pressure in the second half, creating opportunities but not being able to take them. However, the hosts were the ones to score the next goal and draw the game level. A long ball forward was headed down by Toby Stevenson into the path of De La Paz. His shot turned into a pass for captain Billy Holland who took his time and found the net levelling the game.
The hosts began to look for a winner and came close when De La Paz’s shot was blocked from close range by Keano Robinson and cleared away.
Stow looked to potentially go for the win as well, but they rather kept the point and the score remained level, heading towards the corner flag. The gap to the relegation zone extends to nine points, and Stow travel to 17 placed Takeley next weekend.
Image: Stafan Peck