Dandy Town 2 Somerset Eagles 2

K’wonde Lathan scored the goal that just may turn around Dandy Town’s season, after his header five minutes from the end finally gave the champions their first league point after four straight losses.

Town looked headed to a fifth straight loss when last season’s First Division champions came from behind with two goals in the space of 12 minutes early in the second half. However, some frantic late attacking paid off for Town when Lathan rose inside the penalty area to head home Angelo Simmons’s cross.

Town were looking like their former selves in the first half and even led at the break through midfielder Jamel Swan’s 41st-minute goal. A half-hour later, they were trailing after Eagles stunned them with goals from veteran Kanhai Fray and substitute Allan Wilkinson in the 55th and 67th minutes.

“I’m definitely happy with the one point,” Jomar Wilkinson, the Town coach, said at the end of an exciting encounter. “We’ve got something on the board and that’s important.

“I still feel we should have gotten more out of the game. We’re not playing bad, we just need to execute a bit more around the box. We had several chances in the first half to lead by a bigger margin, and when you don’t put your chances away, it comes back to haunt you sometimes.”

Town created the better of the early chances, with Drewonde Bascome and captain Angelo Simmons going close with early efforts. The best chance for Eagles fell to striker Dane Simmons, who forced a good diving save from goalkeeper Dale Eve late in the half.

At the other end, Lorenzo Lambert kept out a shot from Simmons after he got through the defence and tried to slip the ball past the Eagles goalkeeper. Lambert was beaten four minutes later when a good run by Bascome down the right resulted in him crossing into the box where Swan flicked his effort into the far bottom corner for a deserved led.

Eagles were forced to make a replacement at the start of the second half, when Simmons, injured in a challenge just before the break, was replaced by Wilkinson.

Town had the ball in the net early in the second half, when Seion Darrell got on the end of a pass over the defence from Bascome, but the assistant referee’s flag was raised for offside.

Minutes later the visiting side were level when Fray scored into the bottom corner after a cross into the box. The goal lifted Eagles and Anwar Telford then went close with an effort that dropped just over.

Eagles were soaring higher when Wilkinson finally drove the ball home in a crowded penalty area after a goalmouth scramble in which goalkeeper Eve suffered a blow to his mouth. He was on his knees holding his mouth when the ball crossed the line, the home team now trailing for the first time in the match.

Town had another effort ruled out, this time when Tomiko Goater side-footed in a cross at the far post, only to be flagged for offside. At the other end, a shot from Wilkinson grazed the bar, as Eagles refused to be intimidated.

Town were still creating chances, however, aided by substitutes Damon Ming, who came on for Bascome, and striker Tomiko Wilson, who replaced youngster Eusebio Blankendal. A header across the goal by Kamali Davis just missed the far post as Town kept on the pressure. That pressure finally paid off with five minutes to go, when Simmons sent in a perfect cross from the left and Lathan rose high to power a header past Lambert and under the crossbar.

“We showed a lot of heart today and that’s what we’re going to need going forward,” said Wilkinson, whose team had a similar start to the season two years ago and eventually narrowly lost out to Somerset Trojans in the title race.

“I’m pleased with the team’s mentality today. We played with a purpose and wanted to win this game. We’re going in the right direction and will continue building from here. I thought two of the chances we ‘scored’ were questionable but I have to trust the officials that they made the right decision.”

Eagles were disappointed not to take all three points after just failing to hold on in the closing minutes. Roger Lee, their assistant coach, praised his team for the fight they showed.

“It was an excellent game,” he said. “They are the league champions and played well. But our guys, after being 1-0 down at half-time, came out and applied themselves as we expected them to do and got their reward by going 2-1 up.

“It is a fair result; we competed with them. I’m happy with what I saw.

“This is their home ground. Conditions are a little different than where we play, so to come here and get a draw is fantastic. We had a slow start and we have to work on doing better in the first half, but I’m happy to take away a point on the road.”