Josh Hancock’s headed effort in the 57th minute wasn’t enough to provide Radcliffe with three points, as Needham Market’s box-to-box midfielder Ben Hunter was on hand at the far post to level the terms, helping his side to their first point of the season.

The first 45 minutes of the bank holiday weekend provided very little in the way of goalmouth action. Marketmen shot-stopper Marcus Garnham was only called into action on two occasions, once in the 6th minute as he got down low at his near post to block Hancock’s effort, and ten minutes before half-time, the ‘keeper was able to tip Anthony Dudley’s ranged effort over the crossbar.

With the majority of the side in or around the penalty area, the Marketmen were unable to create many clear-cut chances as they were hooked in their own half defending against the oncoming Radcliffe forwards.

The best chance of the first 45 for the visitors came in the 38th minute, as Jamie McGrath received a throw in from the left and cutely touched down before shooting low towards the bottom right corner of the net, his effort dragged inches wide of the target as Hewelt scrambled to meet any goal-bound attempt.

Contrary to the first half, the game was immediately more open after the restart as Needham Market threatened from kick-off, but were only able to produce a corner for their efforts which came to nothing.

Six minutes into the half, McGrath threatened once again as he opened up a pocket of space to let fire from inside the box after a swift counter by the away side, and to Radcliffe’s fortune, Brad Roscoe defended brilliantly by blocking with a diving challenge, then clearing the following danger.

As the game neared the hour mark, the deadlock was broken. An excellent change of pace from Brad Jackson created space for the wide man to pick out the danger zone, Hancock was well positioned to rise highest and head the ball home from his teasing cross, as he found the top left corner of Garnham’s goal before celebrating in front of the home faithful. 

Radcliffe almost earnt themselves a two-goal cushion just shy of ten minutes later as Oyibo managed to dig out a cross towards the far post, but with the goal gaping, Jackson was unable to guide the ball home on the stretch when many expected him to double the lead.

Just one minute after each side made substitutions with 20 minutes of the 90 left to play, Needham Market were level. A forward move down the left-hand side resulted in a dangerous ball to the far post where Ben Hunter was on hand to tap the ball into the net, evening the scoreline once more.

Both went into the game without a win in the first three and as the clock started to tick down, the two outfits pressed on in search of a winner. Excellent defending from Dylan Williams and Tommy Smith saw the duo block big Radcliffe chances in quick succession to keep the game level, denying Matt Sargent and substitute Luca Navarro.

Jamie Morgan and Scott Duxbury entered the fray with a final role of the dice on the cusp of added time, but neither were able to create the impact required to steer the game in Radcliffe’s direction.

The referee’s whistle sounded after four minutes of additional time, signalling a point on the board for each side heading into a quick turnaround at the start of next week.

Radcliffe return to action on Monday afternoon as the side travel to Hereford to complete the bank holiday weekend. Join us as we look to pick up our first-ever victory in England’s sixth tier!