Hampton 1

Wembley 1

A last minute equaliser by Alan Mills earned Wembley a draw against promotion hopefuls Hampton on Saturday, and saw the Lions to safety.

The point, coupled with the demise of the other bottom-of-the-table clubs, means Wembley will hang onto their place in Division One of the Ryman League next season.

The scoreline also severely damaged Hampton's promotion aspirations, with a combination of their woeful finishing and excellent goalkeeping by Lion Kevin Beckles denying them victory.

By the same token it was a game that Wembley could also have won had their attacks been more frequent, as they always threatened to score during their sporadic raids on the Hampton goal.

The home side dominated matters and after exerting early pressure they took the lead in the 15th minute with a Robin Lewis penalty after Wayne Walters had felled the onrushing Nigel Thompson.

In a brief respite Wembley felt they also should have been awarded a penalty when Jesse Hall was fouled by the lunging Lewis just before half-time.

The home side continued to press forward after the break in search of the second goal which would have wrapped up their victory, but they found Beckles in excellent form.

His superb reflex save which kept out Francis Vines' point blank header was the pick of several first class saves from the Wembley keeper.

With Hampton failing to wrap the game up with a second goal, Wembley kept plugging away at the other end and came close to equalising with several attacks.

Jason McKoy's strike almost crept in between the Hampton keeper and the post, Leon Latty scooped over the ball from close range and Hall's fierce drive struck the crossbar,

Eventually they succeeded to break through with an 89th minute equaliser. Hall reached the by-line and hooked the ball back into the danger area for the onrushing Mills to make it 1-1.

Manager Peter Grant who has worked so hard to change Wembley's fortunes since taking over the ailing side halfway through the season, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that all the other clubs in the relegation zone had lost and Lions were safe.

Wembley were due at Grays Athletic on Tuesday. This Saturday sees their final home league game of the season against Billericay Town who are still hoping for promotion.

Lions' final away league game is on May 2nd when they travel to the seaside to take on Bognor Regis.

WEMBLEY: Beckles, McKoy, Dee (Roache 64), Walters, Smith, Millard, Bates, Hall, Vincent, Mills, Latty. Subs: Toussaint, Kirwan.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.