Wealdstone 1 Carshalton Athletic 1
Gordon Bartlett believes it is only a matter of time before goal-shy striker Ben Alexander starts knocking them in after the burlyhitman wasted several glorious chances to give Wealdstone their third win of the season.
While Scotland striker Chris Iwelumo became an overnight laughing stock for his amazing open goal howler on his debut against Norway, spare a thought for Alexander, who too probably wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.
The striker missed a glut of gilt-edged chances, notably two in the first half, in which he first blazed over the bar just yards from the goal, then skewed a tame shot wide, despite having more time and space than he realised.
His bad luck continued after the break but, unlike the boo boys who barracked England's Ashley Cole for his heinous defensive error against Kazakhstan several miles down the Western Avenue at Wembley, Alexander was afforded a warm round of applause as he made way for Stephen Hughes in the second half.
"I've backed Ben for a long time and will continue to do so," said Bartlett. "He's had a few setbacks and this is another one for him, but everyone believes in his ability and everyone misses chances. Richard Jolly missed their [Carshalton's] only real chance and he's scored 14 goals already this season.
"Ben will have a day when the goals will go in off his backside and he will wonder what he was worrying about."
And what did the manager think of the team performance? "I think the fact their manager came to see me after and told me he was grateful for a point summed it up," added Bartlett. "We played well, deserved to win and a bit of good fortune in front of goal would have seen that happen.
"We showed a bit of naivety as we chased a second goal but the work enthic of the players was fantastic."
On-loan striker Gavin James lobbed wide early on before Alexander fluffed the first chance that came his way. With man-of-the-match Alan Massey and central defensive partner Carl Martin keeping former Stones hot-shot Richard Jolly quiet, the hosts were always in with a chance of breaking the deadlock, but again Alexander poked wide of the right post after James saw his shot parried into his strike partner's path.
In the second half the Stones breathed a huge sigh of relief when Jolly, so prolific in his days in blue and white quarters, headed wide of Luke Woods' goal.
Chris O'Leary and Graeme Montgomery were putting in hard shifts for their team in warm conditions at the Vale and it was only a matter of time before they got their noses in front.
James' air shot to a far-side corner allowed the ball the creep to the back post, where Gray acrobatically volleyed the ball into the net to spark relieved celebrations.
However, Stones pushed too many men forward in search of the killer second goal and were punished four minutes later when Carshalton broke in clinical fashion.
Athletic's pacy right wing back Nic Plummain was afforded the freedom of the Vale and delivered a telling cross, allowing Junior Kadi to bundle in the equaliser past a stunned Luke Woods, which sent the visiting fans into raptures.
Wealdstone: Woods, Martin, Chappell, Gray,Massey, Ashe,Forbes, O'Leary,Alexander,James, Montgomery.
