Ross Town 1 Purton 1

ROSS Town maintained their bid for the Division 1 West title of the Cherry Red Records Hellenic League with a draw against the leaders.

This will be followed by another home match against third-placed Shriv-enham.

It is a far cry from last season when they were languishing near the bottom of the table.

The clash with Purton, the second draw between the pair this season, has left the title race wide open as Ross trail them by six points but have two games in hand.

Ross started with the strong wind in their favour, but they tended to over-hit the ball.

They took the lead on the half-hour mark. Leigh Hall sliced the visitors' defence apart and David Skipp used his pace to beat the keeper to the ball and steer it home.

The leaders bounced back to equalise 10 minutes later. Veteran striker Eurshall Fearon, squeezed the ball home after making room for himself in a crowded area. He was not so deadly when he had a penalty, however, and dragged the ball wide.

Despite Ross holding territorial advantage in the second half, it was Fearon who came closest to scoring with a shot which forced Rich Newman to make a brilliant save. To show how equal the sides were, Jamie Warwick had the same result as Fearon when presented with a spot-kick.

Purton had their keeper sent off for handling outside the box with 15 minutes to go, but their defence held firm for a deserved draw.