Cheltenham Town and Swindon Town played out a dramatic 1-1 draw at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium in the FA Cup first round.
On a cold, wet day at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium, it was Swindon who had the better of the chances, hitting the post and seeing the linesman’s flag deny them before Jerry Yates fired past Scott Flinders late on.
But Alex Addai popped up off the bench to equalise just moments later to force a replay with the local rivals set to lock horns again on Tuesday November 19.
Cheltenham dominated possession in the early stages and after a lengthy spell, Ryan Broom whipped a ball to the far post where Sean Long couldn’t quite connect.
On a very wet Jonny-Rocks pitch, the visitors looked dangerous on the counter-attack, and former Forest Green player Kaiyne Woolery saw a shot blocked on the line by Ben Tozer.
Moments later and Woolery had another one-on-one opportunity but was thwarted by Flinders who made a low save.
Cheltenham threatened again midway through the first half when Luke Varney pulled the ball back to Broom near the penalty spot, only to see his shot blocked.
Swindon left-back Dion Donohoue found lots of space on the left flank on 30 minutes and went close when his shot was blocked by Charlie Raglan.
Varney was denied by a desperate save minutes later after he rounded Steven Benda, but the ‘keeper got up quickly to catch the following effort.
Swindon came back into it towards the end of the half, and Diallang Jaiyesimi’s effort was half-cleared before Raglan did brilliantly to deny Donohue just six yards out.
And Flinders denied Yates from point-blank range after receiving a delicious through ball from Michael Doughty five minutes before the interval.
Rohan Ince had a chance to net his first Cheltenham goal early in the second half when the ball fell to him in the area from Chris Hussey’s delivery, although he couldn’t connect properly and the shot was blocked.
Swindon had a great chance to go in front just before the hour mark, Yates nodding against the post from close range after a ball in from Donohue.
Jaiyesimi looked most likely to break the deadlock and after breezing past Ince, fizzed a powerful shot just over.
As the clock ticked down, the visitors thought they got their deserved goal, Yates turned in Doughty’s weak shot, but he was marginally offside.
Yates thought he had won it moments after the fourth official had announced three minutes of added time, firing home in front of the away end after Doughty’s threaded pass.
But directly from the kick-off, Addai danced past two defenders and fired low into the bottom-left corner, sending the home fans wild.
Conor Thomas’ volley whistled just wide right before the end, after he was found by Hussey, but the game finished as a draw and Cheltenham will travel to Swindon for a replay.
CHELTENHAM TOWN XI (3,5,2): Flinders; Raglan, Tozer (c), Boyle; Long, Thomas, Ince (Doyle-Hayes, 74’), Hussey; Broom (Sheaf, 66’), Smith (Addai, 66’), Varney.
Subs not used: Lovett, Greaves, Clements, Reilly.
SWINDON TOWN XI (4-5-1): Benda, Hunt, Fryers, Buadry (c), Donohue; Lyden, Rose, Doughty, Woolery, Jaiyesimi; Yates.
Subs not used: McCormick, Reid, Broadbent, Iandolo, Twine, Curran, Zakuani.
Referee: Scott Oldham
Attendance: 3,456 (1,162 away)