Northern Dons 7 West Tanfield 7

TEN-MAN West Tanfield staged a remarkable secondhalf comeback to grab a point in an incredible 14-goal thriller at Northern Dons.

Division Three leaders Tanfield arrived at Bullamoor Park with an unbeaten league record to defend but that appeared to have been blown away as the Dons raced in to a seemingly unassailable 5-0 half time lead.

Dons got off to the perfect start when Kris Frost curled a free kick beyond Tanfield goalkeeper Ben Richmond after just five minutes, and he doubled his tally three minutes later.

Things appeared to be going from bad to worse for the leaders when Jamie King was sent off by referee Steve Foster after bringing down Paul Fyfe in the penalty area, and Frost completed his hattrick from the penalty spot.

Frost then turned provider for Stephen Heaney to make it 4-0 in the 24th minute, before Frost hit his fourth just before the break after a lovely through ball from Heaney.

Tanfield looked shellshocked as they trooped off at half time and you would have got long odds on them turning it around, even after Duncan Terry fired home from 20 yards three minutes after the restart. That appeared to be no more than a consolation when Heaney grabbed his second, turning home a low cross from Roy Smith four minutes later, to make it 6-1.

Martin Mason scored a quick-fire brace for the leaders on the hour, both created by the outstanding Terry.

The Dons became nervous and Terry grabbed his second to reduce the arrears to just two goals with more than 20 minutes still to play.

It was all Tanfield and only the agility of Dons goalkeeper Alex Watson kept their lead intact. But the hosts appeared to have sealed the win with a swift 74th minute counter attack that ended with Fyfe chipping the ball over Richmond to make it 7-4.

With their unbeaten run now under serious threat, the ten men of Tanfield redoubled their efforts as the Dons tired in the closing stages and Chris Metcalfe and Ross McSherry both beat Wilson in the last ten minutes.

The Dons appeared to have held on but with just two minutes to play, Terry popped up again to complete his hat-trick and make it 7-7.

That was not quite the end of the drama either as the Dons thought they had nicked it in stoppage time when John Brocklesby turned home a free kick from Smith, but Foster ruled it out for offside and it finished with honours even.